


Beauty and the Brat

by Xenafox



Series: Beastverse [1]
Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Animal Transformation, Fantasy, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-11
Updated: 2013-09-11
Packaged: 2017-12-26 07:06:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 54,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/963027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xenafox/pseuds/Xenafox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Done for a fill on the T&B Anon Meme!</p><p>It's pretty straight forward - It's in the canon story but...still kinda fantasy? </p><p>Beauty and the Beast type love story. </p><p>And I tried to type it as such, so Barnaby may seem off, I'm not totally sure since I got too into it, but it's definitely romance as it goes on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Golden Eyed Soul

It wasn’t that Barnaby expected a grand entrance, trumpets blaring and the red carpet rolled out. He didn’t even expect every head to turn. Barnaby hadn’t made his name in the world yet, after all, even if his parents were well known he was a bit of a nobody. His guardian may be the big boss of HeroTV, but the young blonde man rarely came up in conversation before becoming a hereo – why would he?

Regardless, he didn’t expect such a cold welcome from the heroes when he entered the gym for the first time.

It had taken until he arrived home and sat back on his black chair in the dim room that he realized his approach was all wrong. He had marched right in there, didn’t greet anyone to begin with, and when he wanted a machine he went over and demanded to know how long until the man using it was done.

The man sat up, stood up, and glared at Barnaby. He was big, intimidating, and introduced himself as Rock Bison. He proceeded to call Barnaby a brat and told him he ought to ask if he even planned to be off the machine to begin with. Barnaby had glared back and then stormed off, because he didn’t know what to do.

His life had been a comfortable one. Maverick had given him a sense of importance he wasn’t always sure he deserved, but his good looks and intelligence went to his head, even more so when he attended Hero Academy and gained a small fanclub of men and women. 

When he walked into that gym, no one really cared. They gave him half interested looks and then went back to whatever it was they were doing. Blue Rose and Fire Emblem were talking and everyone else was sort of in their own separate areas, which gave Barnaby the idea that they didn’t interact that much. They were rivals, after all. Thinking back on it he wasn’t too horribly surprised no one introduced themselves to him. 

He knew who everyone was, though, from his own research and it surprised him when he failed to recognize Rock Bison immediately. Then again, most of the times he had seen photos of him, he wasn’t dressed in workout clothes and his powers were in use. 

Barnaby realized he was woefully unprepared for the new life set ahead of him. He cursed softly and turned on his television hoping for a distraction. The news wasn’t really effective, and he kept thinking.

Being a quick learner, it was easy for him to see that the heroes weren’t going to take any bullshit. Barnaby knew how smile for an audience and mesmerize his fans – except the heroes weren’t his fans. They were coworkers and he had never had those. They were people he was going to have to treat with respect if he connected with them at all.

Good thing he didn’t plan to. 

Barnaby didn’t like people much, didn’t have time for them even if he had acted like his fanclub was at least semi-important to him. He was too busy researching the criminal organization behind his parents’ death and that in itself was a fulltime job. He didn’t have time to go and hang out at a bar or other social gathering, and he didn’t care if anyone liked him so much as he was able to do what he needed to. So, it didn’t matter that Rock Bison was not happy with him, as long as he did get to that machine.

However, Barnaby couldn’t seem to dismiss the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that said he didn’t want to be totally alone, that said he cared if Rock Bison was pissed. There was a part of him that craved affection, and he hated it. 

He went back the next day and talked to no one.

The same went for the third day, when his call bracelet finally went off. That was another thing, too. He had thought he would be in action all the time, but he wasn’t. Major crimes didn’t happen each day, so usually he was at the gym, doing some kind of office work, examining his suit, or being bored out of his skull. 

He hadn’t dug up anymore dirt on Ouroboros either. He’d found out years ago that was what the organization was called even if all other major details eluded him. The only things he found surrounding Ouroboros those few nights as a hero were some other disappearances (unsurprising), rumors about some kind of bio-engineered creature (likely an animal morph power of some sort held by a member), and some businesses they owned both on the high end of town and in the slums.

Nothing about it helped him in the end.

The fourth day at work he saw Fire Emblem laughing and teasing a red-faced Antonio, and he began to feel alone again. Barnaby could ignore it, could try to focus on other things, but watching the friendships that did exist between a few of the heroes only made him yearn for something more. Thing was, no one in there really fit as someone he wanted to put effort and feeling into.

His teachers at the academy suggested multiple times that he see a mental health professional and find out if he had some kind of disorder, and he was feeling so out of sorts there in the hero environment that he seriously thought about it.

No, no he wasn’t that pathetic.

Maybe he just needed small talk, and the opportunity came when he walked into the gym and saw Rock Bison sitting on a bench studying a newspaper. That was odd. He was always lifting or something. “Something amiss?” Barnaby asked, voice level, voice cool. 

Rock Bison glanced up at him and Barnaby expected a snarky reply. He hadn’t said anything nice to the man, so why should he expect him to answer? And yet, he did. “Possible new details on Wild Tiger’s disappearance.”

“Wild Tiger…” The name sounded familiar.

“Veteran hero,” Rock Bison replied as Fire Emblem made his way toward them. “My closest friend. He’s been missing for weeks, and every now and then there’s some kind of evidence. Seems one of his shoes was found…” he trailed off.

“Absolutely adorable man,” Fire Emblem said, sitting on the bench as well and scooting himself right next to Rock Bison. “If you like older men, anyway.”

Rock Bison acted like he was ignoring Fire Emblem. “Kotet…er…Wild Tiger would have never left voluntarily. He was serious about being a hero. Some fans theorize he gave up and left with his popularity sinking, but I know him. He may not have been very happy, but he wouldn’t leave.”

“Well, what happened when he vanished?” Barnaby asked, tapping his foot as if bored when he was in fact curious. Another disappearance, could it possibly be related to Ouroboros? And a hero, at that? It could be something big.

“Not one thing.” Fire Emblem sighed and lightly poked at the paper with a long pink nail. “He went home one night and didn’t come back the next day. That’s all. We weren’t on a call, nor were there reports of anything happening throughout the city.”

“I see…” Barnaby frowned.

“We all wish we could find him,” Rock Bison began to fold the paper and tried to make space between him and Fire Emblem, who just kept on getting closer. “I’m sure he’s alive.”

“What makes you so sure?” Barnaby asked, and Rock Bison declined to answer.

 

Thoughts of Wild Tiger haunted Barnaby.

If he could find him, that could be his moment, making him a star hero and earning the respect of the others. He wanted to be something in besides “that hunk avenging his parents”, and King of Heroes or at least a SAVIOR of Heroes didn’t seem so bad.

It seemed like a better idea than sitting in his chair moping.

Barnaby’s mind felt blank more and more often since he began work for HeroTV. He was unhappy, discontent. He wasn’t stupid as to why he felt that way, it was his first time living on his own, living in an environment where he had to make an effort to reach out to others. He couldn’t do that.

He didn’t know how. The conversation with Rock Bison was a start, he supposed, but he had no idea what else to say to him without there being something to ask about. 

He would find Wild Tiger, then, and he began the next day getting permission to do investigative work on the job for the elder hero. He had files on Kotetsu, aka Wild Tiger, to study. There were quite a few damage reports in there and Barnaby started to wonder if he should bring the man back. He had once been a flawless hero but as time went on he was sloppy and destructive and downright bitter to the public at times. He was a hero that didn’t aim to be a star and a television network did not thrive on such a thing, so he was pushed to the back of everyone else as they tried to phase him out.

Kotetsu wouldn’t go.

More and more Barnaby found himself wondering if it was an inside job to get rid of the troublesome hero. 

He had to spend the entire first day of his search pouring over those files. The next day he spent actually visiting areas Kotetsu used to frequent, checking the areas where people had seen him and a gas station where his pants had been found. He got few leads, but as long as he had even one, it was enough to go on the next day.

The next day took him to the slums, to where the shoe had been located previously. Before he left, Rock Bison had set his hand on the blonde’s shoulder, accidentally tugging at the stray stands of his curls. “Hey, I know where you’re going, be careful down there.”

Barnaby was so surprised by the contact he forgot to glare, twitch, and pull away. “Huh?”

“Lots of unsavory characters and old buildings. Listen, no one said you had to do this, so…” He was offering him an out, a guilt-free out.

But Barnaby was incapable of forcing himself to stop on such a search. “I’ll be fine.” He did pull away then.

“Call if you need backup.” Rock Bison dropped his hand. “I hope you find him.”

“Me too,” Barnaby straightened out his jacket and left.

He found himself in a place that gave him the creeps. He was in the lowest level of an older part of the city, where he could hear waves slamming against the concrete. It was dark even in the middle of the day and the buildings were indeed old. A partially constructed tower was ahead of him, around him abandoned convenience stores and a shoe repair shop. A couple of windows in the dilapidated buildings were lit up. Barnaby knew they were the homeless of the area, living in the unsafe structures no one in their right mind would ever pay rent for. Those were the folks he saw on the street.

They didn’t really bother him, until he got closer to the tower and a man stepped into his path.

He was an old decrepit man, hair that was black and greasy, no doubt stained. He had on old slacks and a patched up tan jacket covered his upper body. His eyes were dull. “Where ya goin’, kiddo?” he asked in a scratchy voice.

His breath smelled like old milk and Barnaby fought to keep from getting sick. “The tower,” Barnaby answered. He wasn’t sure he’d actually get there, because so far there was no real point in being down there. He’d yet to find anything important.

“Why d’ya wanna go there?”

“I’m looking for someone,” Barnaby answered. Maybe he could get answers if he replied somewhat truthfully. 

“In there?” The guy snorted. “You do know what’s in there?”

“Uh…” Barnaby wasn’t quick enough to say that no, he didn’t.

The man held out a hand. “Twenty bucks. I know a looker like you has it on ‘im.”

He did. He had plenty, and was used to needing to bribe people for information. Maverick had always given him money for such without knowing about it. Barnaby still made a face and huffed and puffed because handing over cash too easily was a big mistake.

But he gave the man his twenty, and the old guy chuckled. “They say the Ouroboris ‘er whatever has their monster in there.”

Barnaby’s breath caught.

The man continued. “The one they created, ‘cept they can’t control it and had to lock ‘im away. At night you can hear his angry roars, we all hear ‘em.”

“I…so they did create something?”

“They did boy, they did. An’ they refuse to kill ‘im as if they think he can be trained yet.”

“I see…no one here has seen him though?”

The man stared. Barnaby sighed and gave him another ten dollars. 

He pocketed that with the twenty. “Some of the local childrens claim to ‘ave seen him. You see, that ladder on the side?” He turned and pointed at the building, and barely visible on the side was a rusty looking old ladder. “You climb up that, ‘n pry opened the emergency exit, climb up more to a ledge an’ they say you can see ‘im.”

“I…see.” He was so exact. 

“You sure you wanna go there, sonny?” the man asked, the edges of his grimy mouth twitching. Barnaby was surprised to realize the man was actually somewhat concerned. 

Barnaby nodded. “I think I have to.”

“I see.” He squeezed Barnaby’s arm with a disgusting hand covered in something green. “Well, you best be careful, and thanks fer buyin’ me a week of dinner.” He dropped his hand.

“Uh, you’re welcome?” Barnaby asked, and the man just smiled fondly at him before moving on.

Barnaby watched him go, and then rushed toward the tower. He was unprepared for an actual monster, he knew it, but he doubted that was what was in there. Still, there was something related to Ouroboros, and he had to know. With a good jump he got on the ladder, since it dangled somewhat off the ground.

It shook with every step, threatened to break, and the metal hurt Barnaby’s hands, but he climbed up about two stories to a platform in front of a door. The door was already pried open so he paused, pressing his ear to the outside and listening. Was someone baiting him, ready on the other side of the door to hurt him?

He had his hundred power so it didn’t really matter. Still, he wanted to know. 

Hearing nothing, he opened the door to a room lit a little more brightly than expected thanks to the light streaming through the windows. There were a lot of them at that level, and they highlighted the old empty floors and cobwebs on desks and seats perfectly. Barnaby had imagined walking into a dark and scary place. Instead, it was almost welcoming. It even smelled better than the world outside. 

Carefully, he walked forward and realized he was still on a platform, not high above the ground. He turned to the wall and saw the other ladder, to the ledge. It was about a story high that time, and the edges of the ladder looked sharp. They looked built to hurt, like going to that ledge wasn’t encouraged.

He was going to have to do it.

Barnaby took a deep breath, stepped forward, reached for the ladder and-

He was pulled off his feet and off the ground entirely. He yelped and struggled, not using his power yet. He wasn’t falling but he sure was dangling over the floor, and he felt someone breathing behind him – something, oh no, had he been wrong?

Before he could think more he was turned quickly.

Barnaby was sure his face drained of all color when he stared at a pair of narrowed golden eyes, surrounded by orange, white and black fur. The orange ears were folded back which wasn’t good. The creature was large, and he noticed it had very sharp teeth as it opened its mouth…

And yelled at him. 

“What the HELL are you doing here!?”

 

“Put me down, right now!” Barnaby struggled in the monster’s grip, panic settling in when he heard it speak. He’d hadn’t been that jumpy to begin with, even if the lift was unexpected, but for some reason the thing having a voice was scary.

“I will when you answer me,” it said to him, growling as it spoke and breathing hard through the nose. 

“I’ll make you put me down.” Barnaby activated his power, saw the beast’s eyes go wide, and then kicked him hard in the chest to get away. He was released and dropped on the floor as the thing flew back, crashing hard on the floor.

Barnaby spun to look at the doorway he’d entered through. He could easily get out, buuuut…should he? If it could talk and was related to Ouroboros, he’d be a fool to run away just because it was something inhuman. He knew far worse individuals than a talking tiger-beast existed in the city. 

Probably.

He was unable to give it much more thought as something slammed into him, knocking him against the wall and trapping him there. Fur tickled the back of his neck as well as that hot breath, and he knew the thing was fighting back. His face was sore where it hit the wall, but that was about it. 

No big, deal he had his – wait. Barnaby blinked, because there was another blue glow that wasn’t his. He struggled and for whatever reason, the creature let up enough to let him turn around and face him once more. Sort of. Barnaby’s eyes were level with his white furry chest. He wrinkled his nose at the smell, tried to push it away, but had no luck. 

“Hundred power, I see,” the thing growled, and then laughed, a series of horrible snort-like sounds. “You’re out of luck because I have it too.”

“I….” How could an…an animal, he supposed, be a NEXT? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know, so he tried to kick him again and jump away. 

He failed miserably when it stepped back, caught his leg, and yanked upward so once again he was dangling in the air, but upside-down. “Don’t think so pretty-boy. You’re not getting out of here that easy.”

“You can’t keep me here!” Barnaby yelled, his face red and heart beating fast. The claws dug into his calf, and it hurt.

“Never said I was going to keep you here. I just said you weren’t leaving that easy.”

“Eh….huh?” He’d expected to be killed or kept hostage or, or something. He glared down at what he could see below him – huge, long feet, like a tiger’s but longer than a cat’s probably should be. Given how big that thing was, he guessed it was for support and balance, but they still looked almost canine. They were orange and black striped, the tip of each toe white, with big dangerous claws poking out.

It sighed and stepped back. Barnaby straightened his head to see it was incredibly wearing shorts. Or at least, attempted shorts – green fabric shredded at the ends, maybe it was once pants, and held in place by a rope tied around the waist. Barnaby was perplexed to see it wearing clothes, studying them as it spoke again. “I don’t want you in here. I don’t want anyone in here, but you just haaaad to go and kick me. No no no!” He shook Barnaby like a rag. “Not in my house.”

Barnaby’s head was hurting, the blood rushing to it, the shake making him dizzy. Even if his power was still working, it wasn’t doing anything for him. He knew that thing was stronger than him, and even if he could keep trying to overpower or trick it, something in his mind told him not to.

It was similar to that feeling that told him he didn’t want to be alone. Nonsensical, something he scoffed at, but couldn’t get rid of.

“Fine, fine, you’re pissed I kicked you. But you need to put me down now.”

“Why should I?” It laughed.

“I am Barnaby Brooks Jr.!” He used his name not only as a way to show his importance, but to see if it was recognized for other reasons. 

“That’s great, Barnaby, nice to meetcha.”

Frustrated, Barnaby swung at his stomach with his fists and connected, but the beast didn’t react much. He twitched, Barnaby could see the disturbance in his thick fur, but that was it. “Put me down!”

“You gonna be nice?”

“…Eh?”

“Not going to put you down if you’re just going to be a jerk.”

“I am a HERO! You put me down this instant!” Barnaby wasn’t scared at all anymore. He was pissed. 

Then he was dropped. It didn’t hurt that much, he put out his arms to catch himself and kind of rolled once he hit the floor, immediately getting into a crouching position. He was ready to jump, to get away.

“A hero? You’re a hero?” It asked, suddenly interested. 

Barnaby glared at its furry legs, and slowly straightened up. He studied the creature in more detail.

Barnaby was a tall guy, but this…had a few feet on him, towering over him and looking gruff as hell even though he was sure he was detecting a hint of playfulness of all things as it spoke. Its muzzle was a little more elongated than a normal tiger, though the rest of the head-shape was the same. It had a pink nose, surrounded by white. The chin was a jutting furry beard with a dark brown coloration near the very edge, splitting apart as it reached the lower lip. 

The beast rolled its shoulders and peered down at him. “Well?”

Before answering, he just studied it more. Barnaby was a little uncomfortable as he saw that those eyes, those gold eyes he’d seen when he was first turned around – they held emotion. Feeling. They were both the eyes of an animal and the eyes of a human in a way he couldn’t possibly understand. “Yes,” he finally said, looking away. “I’m a hero, and if you knock me around anymore you’ll end up as nothing more than points for one of us.”

“Charming. What does a hero want here?” 

“….”

When Barnaby declined to answer and his blue glow faded, the beast dropped down on all fours, stalking around him in a circle and glaring. “Come on. No one knows I’m here but the local children and I roar at them to make them go away.”

“What’s your connection to Ouroboros, monster?” Barnaby asked, turning in place to make sure he had an eye on the thing at all times. He noticed on the top of its head to the mid-back the fur was clumped, sort of, in long brown spikes. Strange…

It paused, eyes wide and let out a loud, agitated roar that had Barnaby trying not to wince, trying not to show any indication he was uneasy. He wasn’t frightened, but he also didn’t like a large animal roaring at him.

“I am not a monster!” It rushed right up to him, jaws level with Barnaby’s. “Don’t you ever call me a goddamn monster!” Its blue glow faded as well, though he was no less intimidating.

Barnaby stood his ground. “Isn’t that what you are?”

It continued to glare and then suddenly was on him, knocking the wind out of him as he landed hard on the floor. A heavy paw smacked him hard in the face and yet he knew that wasn’t even a fraction of the power it had.

Still, it stung and he knew there were scratches left on his face from the claws. “Get out.” It lowered its head, nose touching Barnaby’s, and Barnaby began to feel fear again. “Get the hell out of here, and don’t you come back again.”

“And what if I do? What if I bring everyone I know?” Barnaby managed to sneer. 

Another smack, on the other side of the face, before it blinked and sat back on its haunches, looking bothered. “Do as you will. I suggest leaving and not coming back, you little brat. Go keep calling yourself a hero, and leave me alone.” It turned around and began walking away.

Barnaby had so many questions. He needed to know about Ouroboros, needed to know why that thing was there in that terror, who it was, what it was, and why it played with him instead of killing him. 

Cats did tend to play with food before killing it, though…

His face hurt. 

Barnaby forced himself to turn away and went back to the door. He expected to be stopped. He expected to be thrown into the wall again and laughed at in the creature’s rumbling deep voice while he smelled breath that held the scent of long-dead fish. 

Instead he walked out the door, climbed down the ladder, and got the hell away from that tower. 

 

Barnaby arrived home a shaky mess.

Once he had gotten out of the lower levels of the city, he was able to keep himself composed, keep his head held high, and even managed to sign a few autographs. No one questioned his roughed up appearance and he knew he looked like hell from some of the looks he was getting. There wasn’t a thing he could do about it.

As soon as he was in the dark privacy of his own room he crossed his arms over his chest and took deep breaths. Just what the hell was that? After walking away it seemed like a bad dream, but it was very much real.

Eventually he managed to get himself to the bathroom, and was horrified by the deep scratches on his face. They weren’t dripping blood, but they sat there on his cheeks, red, angry and painful. His hair was a bird’s nest, face and hands dirty from being on the floor. He smelled bad too, he was sure, and so he took a shower.

The water stung on his face but he cleaned anyway, and once out, activated his power again. There was no need for those scratches to stay. Then, a couple of aspirins and one sleeping pill later, he was sitting drowsily in his chair and staring at the news again. The usual business unfolded on the screen in front of him, tails of a robbery here, assault there, political this and that he should really pay attention to, and a “heart-warming” story about a little girl getting an armored car. 

No one was aware of what lurked in that city, what lurked in the tower, no one but children and a bum. And as distressed as he should be over it…

Barnaby was glad. He felt guilty for it, but he was happy no one except some homeless kids knew. It was his own little secret, his own project he didn’t have to share with anyone. He couldn’t, because the others would not hesitate to reveal that creature to the world for various reasons. As long as he was kept fairly secret, Barnaby could learn about him somehow, find ways to extract information as he pleased.

It seemed interested in him being a hero, so perhaps if he played on that, somehow…

His head pounded and he yawned. The day and his medication had really taken it out of him, and he reclined back in his chair rather than go to his bed. He never felt right sleeping in a big bed like that. It was too big, like it asked for someone else to be there and he had no interest in sleeping with another soul. His chair was much better suited for him. 

He felt himself fading, and tried not to plan because he was sure he would forget it when he woke up. He had to go back, had to make contact, make it understand it needed to comply with him…

Barnaby’s eyes closed without him realizing it, and his tired mind traveled to random thoughts, of food, of movies, of people he had seen on the street, and before he slipped off, those golden eyes.

 

He didn’t make it back the next day.

Barnaby was fully ready to go to the office, do some paperwork, and then hit the road again, but a call came in for a massive structural fire and several trapped people, so off he went. While he was happy to help, a bit of joy nudging into his heart when he pulled a boy and a kitten from the fire, he just didn’t want to be there. It downright tormented him, having to be there when he had something much more pressing to do. 

Answers about Ouroboros existed in the form of a monster that looked like a genetically engineered tiger, and he desperately needed to question him. And if it took time to get the answers he wanted and needed? He’d been desperate for twenty years, so what was another few days or weeks to him?

It wasn’t that simple because he still felt urgent about it.

After work he was scheduled to be at a dinner, where Maverick showed him off. Barnaby smiled and shook hands, answered questions perfectly and held his head high. He kept a distance from others as usual except for when he saw a face he knew to be very important.

Maverick shot proud smiles at him all through the evening and Barnaby knew he was doing well in hiding his true feelings about it being an utter waste of time. 

Finally he was free and it was dark out. Night time. He cursed as he arrived home and changed from a suit into his black t-shirt and jeans. He was going to have to medicate himself to sleep again, because he could do nothing but think about going back to the tower and he couldn’t go that until the next day.

…Could he?

There were certainly no rules about where he had to be at night. Barnaby sat forward in his chair, considering the intelligence of his plan. The slums were a dangerous place at night, but he had his power. But then, someone else there might too. The only way to get past that would to be very sneaky or blend in, and the latter was more realistic. He could be smooth and quiet, Barnaby was trained in stealth, but then again, those people survived on it. They were probably more able than him in that regard, loathe as he was to admit it.

Still, if he dressed correctly, brought a light and a small pack containing things like a first aid kit and water, he should be able to get there…

He had to do it. Barnaby stood and went to his room, finding the oldest jacket he owned instead of his nice red one. He found a ratty jean one and located a newsboy cap he’d gotten at some point in his life, pulling it snug on his head. His hair looked too nice, but there was no helping that. As long as he looked like anyone else, he was okay.

Barnaby stood in front of his door, thinking about if he really should go so late. But again, he knew he had to. He left his apartment, left the building, took a walk to the subway, and boarded the line that carried him far down the levels.

 

He arrived at the tower without incident. He had expected to be watched or even roughed up, but as he made his way through the quiet old area, he saw some people talking, a couple of women smoking cigarettes and laughing quietly, and a couple of kids shining flashlights on the ground, looking for bugs they told him. 

It was like a normal neighborhood, just older and poorer. Barnaby knew it was ridiculous to admit he had major misconceptions about poor people but, he sure as hell did. He tended to think of them as thieves and liars. 

No one stopped him as he walked down the old road, to the tower, and climbed right in. 

It was dark in there, but he swallowed and kept going. Ouroboros, he just had to remind himself, Ouroboros. 

He turned on a small flashlight so he could walk to the floor, and then….and then what? He didn’t actually know how to find the thing, or if it wanted to be found. He saw nothing as he let the beam from his light float around the room. There was abandoned furniture and that was it.

Well, maybe he had to ask it to come. “Beast!” he yelled before catching himself. Oh well, he’d already yelled once, so he did it again, louder. “BEAST!”

He was answered by a snarl that echoed from all around him, and suddenly he found the darkness very intimidating. He had no way of knowing where it would come from. He could hear something big running toward him but couldn’t pinpoint the direction. Another snarl, and he hoped like crazy that it wasn’t pissed he came back.

As he had sort of expected, it slammed into him and made him drop the flashlight. It hit him from the side and he went down, turning himself on his back as quickly as he could. He wasn’t planning on being submissive – no way! – but he was going to show he had no intentions of fighting back.

He smelled the fish breath too close and too strong and the eyes practically glowed before him, narrowing and then-

And then they went wide. “Oh. It’s you. You’re back.”

“Well, at least you’re observant,” Barnaby said with a sigh, sitting up as it backed off. He searched for the flashlight, unable to find it. It was close by. He could tell by the way the light had settled on the monster’s paws. 

“Why would you come back?”

“I can’t be the only one who comes back, the local kids-“

“And then I scare them away. I’ve never had to physically hurt anyone except you, not since, well, not for a long time and all.”

Barnaby stared at him. “Curiosity.”

“Curiosity killed the cat, you know.”

“Good thing I’m not a cat,” Barnaby said, getting to his feet.

“I know that! But I am, and I don’t need you bringing trouble.” Some of the ‘bite’ he had in his voice when Barnaby first found him was coming back.

“I won’t. I promise.” He felt a little guilty, since he had no way of knowing if he would keep that promise. “I just want to talk to you.”

“You want to talk to me?” It sounded surprised.

“Yes, I…you see, I’ve been investigating Ouroboros, and I’ve heard that you are, ah, the monster they-“

He was answered by a loud growl. “Don’t call me a monster!”

“Well-“

“And I get it, investigative work, so I’m just a tool for your use?”

“Er…” What did the creature expect? Did he think Barnaby came over to play!? “You see…”

“Tell you what, little blonde bunny! How about you stay here with me for a while?”

“Blonde bun-what? Why would I stay here? Why would you need me to stay here?” Oh, coming back may have been an absolutely terrible choice after all. 

“Not like a prisoner. I just get bored, you know, don’t talk to much of anyone.”

“Why me?”

There was no response for a long minute, and then an agitated huff. “Will you stay or not?”

“I…how long?”

“I don’t know. Not terribly long.”

Staying in that dirty place where he had none of his comforts, missing work, missing other hints about Ouroboros, it all made him annoyed. Why should he spend time hanging out with a lonely monster?

…It hit him hard, realizing that the only time he hadn’t felt so alone in a long time was the day before when he got knocked around by the cat, followed by that very moment he was standing there being asked to stay.

“Fine. But this better get more comfortable soon.” Barnaby slowly leaned down to pick up his flashlight upon locating it, hoping he wouldn’t get attacked for moving. He wasn’t. “I’m sure you are fine circling some place on the floor and lying down, but I’m not.”

“….You make such assumptions. I don’t do that, and I’m not a monster – so don’t call me that!”

“What do you want me to call you?”

“I…hmmm.” He tapped his furry chin with a big finger…toe? Whatever. Barnaby didn’t need to dwell on that. “Maybe you better just call me Tiger.”

“Creative.”

“Better than monster,” Tiger snapped, eyes glaring again. He really, really hated being referred to as a monster, and Barnaby made sure to remember that.

“Right, then. I’m Barnaby Br-“

“You told me yesterday! I’m calling you ‘Bunny’.”

“Huh!?” He was insulted! Bunny? That wasn’t his name, and sounded silly! “Don’t you dare!”

“Too late, Bunny. Sorry but we’re doing animal names here, and you’re cute and angry and full of kicks…”

Barnaby was fuming, but he mentally told himself ‘come on, calm down, you need to be somewhat nice to your lead until you get what you want’. “I hate it.” He sighed and looked up. “But I can’t keep you from calling me that.”

“Sure can’t!” Tiger chuckled, and though it was just as grumbly as his voice and every other sound, it definitely had an air of happiness. “Want me to show you to the bedroom?”

“You have a bedroom?”

“I made sure I had one. I like to be comfortable.”

He really didn’t seem like an animal… “Wait, -the- bedroom, I have to share a bedroom with you?”

“You don’t have to, but that’s where the blankets and pillows are.”

“…Blankets and pillows!”

Tiger was getting onto two legs, and once he was up he paused and gave Barnaby an odd look. “You really think I’m exactly like a wild animal, huh?”

“Well…”

“I don’t sleep on cold floors, eat raw meat, and I do NOT lick my own ass, just so we’re clear.”

Barnaby felt a headache coming on. What had he gotten himself into? “Fine, fine, look, I’m tired so, just…just lead the way.”

“Poor tired lil’ Bunny,” Tiger chuckled again. He approached Barnaby and stretched out one paw, resting it on Barnaby’s head and gently petting him, much to his embarrassment. It didn’t feel bad, though. It was the touch of someone who cared and felt bizarre coming from a beast. “Better get you some shut-eye and in the morning we’ll see about your questions,” he said, and then yawned.   
Barnaby got a good look at those teeth and shivered. “Yea…yea, sounds good,” he said. When Tiger’s paw left his head and the beast began to walk again, Barnaby frowned and followed.

 

He wished there was more light.

Barnaby had to keep the flashlight trained on Tiger’s tail to follow him, and he was getting more lost the farther they went. He hadn’t thought the tower would have actual hallways and the like, for some reason, but they were walking through them, through doorways, down a few flights of stairs…he was sure in the daylight he could find his way out just fine, but as it was? It would be possible but difficult. 

Given the pitch black around them, he was very surprised see a soft glow from a room up ahead. “You DO have lights?”

“I have a lot of candles,” Tiger grumbled in response. “I don’t mind dark but sometimes at night I like it a little brighter, plus they smell nice.”

“Where did you get them?”

“I get out of here, sometimes, and I know where to go for things…”

That was vague as hell, but Barnaby didn’t ask. He could guess from there. Tiger could probably sneak out quite well on a dark night, after all there wasn’t much lighting outside the tower. The lower level in that area had been neglected quite badly, with a few street lamps that barely worked. 

Tiger led them into what appeared to have been a hopeful office room. It wasn’t that large, but it sure looked comforting.

A collection of candles sat on the old desk, in various holders. They were tall and scented, smelling like coffee of all things. Next to the desk was an absurd amount of mayonnaise…Barnaby diverted his attention to the ‘bed’.

It was more of a nest, pillows and an old mattress and who knows what else covered by a lot of old looking blankets. They were covered in fur but otherwise looked fairly clean. He had pictured Tiger doing something similar to dumpster diving to find things he could use, but those things didn’t look like they’d been junked.

He remembered some of the old abandoned storefronts in the neighborhood and it clicked. Things had been left behind when the store owners gave up; he’d seen it before. Tiger raided those places, he had to have done that, right?

He raided them and built himself a little lair.

“Bunny, you’re staring.”

“Of course I’m staring! Where do you expect me to sleep?” He wasn’t sharing a blanket nest with anyone, let alone Tiger! 

“Don’t want a big stuffed animal, eh?”

“Not so much, no.”

Tiger flicked his ears as if agitated and went over to his bed. He gathered up an assortment of pillows and a couple of blankets, red and pink in color. “Here…now, you can stay by the desk, or go to another room if you want to.”

Normally Barnaby might have chosen to go to a room alone. But at the moment, he wasn’t sure he felt good about it. He didn’t know if anything else was in the tower and as he debated his ears caught another sound.

He knew they were near the water in that part of the city, especially so low down, but he hadn’t thought much about it. There, he could hear the waves hitting the wall just outside the building. They crashed against the wall but it was soothing. 

Maybe the tower was the perfect place for him to be by himself and do his thinking, Tiger aside. He took the blankets and pillows and carried them a few feet away from the nest, putting them down on the dirty floor with a cringe and starting to arrange them. “How long have you been here?” he asked, still surprised by how clean that stuff was. 

“Not too long.”

“Why are you down here?”

“Where else am I supposed to go?”

Barnaby shrugged. “You act so, so human. Maybe with some help you could live in the city…” Even saying it he knew it was ridiculous. Tiger was a talking beast, he would become a public attraction. Barnaby didn’t know what else would be done with a talking animal, because how could one live in a normal house or normal apartment and be….normal? 

“Can’t go back up there yet.”

“Back?”

Tiger snorted. “I told you I haven’t been here too long. Where did you think I came from?”

“That’s the whole thing, I don’t know,” Barnaby said with a sigh and grabbed the blankets. It was chilly in there after all. 

“Oh, yea…”

“This whole thing is so bizarre.”

“Obvious little Bunny, aren’t we?”

Barnaby scowled. “Please, don’t call me that.”

Tiger’s eye’s sparkled with amusement, again looking more human. But he diverted his gaze, went down on all fours, and approached his nest. He let himself plop down with a long sigh and rested his head on his paws. “I like to sleep with those candles lit.”

“Um, okay.”

“So there.” 

“I wasn’t arguing,” Barnaby said, suppressing a little laugh. He was enjoying himself? Why? Barnaby could bicker with anyone he wanted, he was sure, but he got such enjoyment from going back and forth with Tiger. It was confusing and his headache began to grow.

“Cool,” Tiger had mumbled before falling silent. Barnaby looked at him and saw his eyes were closed. He wondered if it was intelligent to drift off in front of him.

Tiger wouldn’t hurt him. Barnaby let his eyes shut and soon dozed off.

 

Cold woke Barnaby up the next morning. He was shivering like crazy, barely aware of the beam of sunlight streaming through the one small window in the room. All he knew was that he was freezing. He felt around him for the blankets – he’d kicked them off, of course- and pulled them back up quickly. Despite knowing where to find said blankets he couldn’t remember where he was right away. It didn’t feel like his place, the lingering coffee smell was all wrong and there was too much noise from the sea.

He sat up and looked around, spotting Tiger immediately. He was sprawled out on his back, mouth half open with his big pink tongue hanging out. One front paw was raised a little, twitching. His whiskers twitched too and Barnaby knew he was nowhere near awake.

Well, he still felt cold and tired, so he laid back down and fell in and out of sleep for an hour until he heard movement. He sat up quickly and – and Tiger had just shifted to his side, furry cheek smushed into a little pink pillow with a yellow smiling sun on it. 

Barnaby shook his head and waited for him to wake up.

And waited.

And waited some more. 

And still all the damn cat did was change positions with various loud groans and purrs. He would kick one hind leg out, or reach with a front one and dig his claws into a blanket, yawn and hide his nose under a paw.

Typical, lazy-ass cat. 

Still Barnaby waited, bored. He didn’t want to wake him up, surprise him, and get mauled. It gave him time to think at least. He was able to arrange his thoughts, and focus on the issue that had quickly gone to the back of his mind – the investigation that had led him to the tower to begin with. 

It had to be almost noon when Tiger finally stirred. Barnaby had been so bored he was getting tired again, nodding off as he pulled blankets tighter around him. 

Tiger sat up, eyes half closed and groggy. A low, irritated growl escaped him as he raised his head and sniffed the air. His ears twitched and he immediately looked at Barnaby, eyes wide and on alert. Barnaby blinked back and soon enough Tiger relaxed. 

“Morning little Bunny.”

“Good morning.” He didn’t bother to tell him to stop with the nickname. “About time you woke up.” Barnaby sat back up.

“You can’t talk,” Tiger said, getting on all fours and stretching his bulky furry body out with a toothy yawn. 

“I’ve been awake, waiting for you.”

“You should have woken me up!” Tiger scratched the back of his head with his hind leg. 

“I didn’t know if you would react like a surprised animal.” Barnaby was to the point. 

“Of course not.” Tiger glared. 

“I’ve spent a night here.” Barnaby got to his feet. “So, will you answer some of my questions at least?”

“What about breakfast?”

“Soon.” What the hell did Tiger have in mind for breakfast? Barnaby tried not to think about it. He cleared his throat, suppressing the desire to launched into a hundred questions about Ouroboros. “What do you know about Kotetsu Kaburagi?”

Tiger nearly fell over. “Eh!?”

“I knew it! You know something. I was looking for him when I learned about you, and I refuse to believe I followed his clues to you for no reason.” Barnaby crossed his arms. He wished he’d waited until he had something to drink, at least. His throat was dry and the taste in his mouth was terrible. “So what’s the connection between you and Kotetsu, or, the hero Wild Tiger?”

“Why were you looking for him?”

“Because he’s missing and people are looking for him?” Why the stupid question?

Tiger didn’t look at him. “Ko-Kotetsu is, he’s okay.”

“How do you know?” Barnaby walked briskly to Tiger, his mind buzzing with excitement. “Did you have something to do with it?”

“You could put it that way. Listen, he’s fine. But he needs to stay where he is right now.”

Barnaby had to suppress an urge to get violent, because he wasn’t being answered straight and it was frustrating. “How do you know?” he repeated.

“Because I put him where he is!” Tiger roared and turned to face Barnaby finally. “If I reveal him now, he’ll be destroyed pretty fast.”

“But why?” 

“I can’t discuss this with you yet.”

“I’m getting sick of your games, cat.”

“Kotetsu can’t trust you until I can trust you. You got it? Or do you want the situation to be worse?”

Raising his hands to either side of his head, Barnaby was unable to keep from yelling. “I don’t know what the situation is! I won’t until you tell me!” He squeezed his eyes shut. He wanted to berate himself for wasting his time with the monster, but he didn’t know if he was wasting it for sure. Barnaby would want to know someone better too if he had to protect someone valuable to him, and from the soft way Tiger spoke he was sure there was some kind of affection there. But he didn’t have that time to waste!

Soft fur brushed his hands and when Barnaby opened his eyes he noticed Tiger’s paws on either side of his head as well, trying to tug his hands away. “I’m sorry.”

The golden eyes were sad, and it made Barnaby ache. “It…It’s fine.” It wasn’t. “But I’m a hero. Out of so many people in the city, I’m someone you can trust.”

“It’s not that easy, little Bunny.” His grip was firm on Barnaby’s hands as he lowered them. “…Breakfast?”

“I suppose,” Barnaby grunted, sullen. Tiger dropped it for them both and it was too fast, but he had to deal with it. “What do you have, anyway?”

“I don’t have a kitchen or whatever, so I have to get things that don’t require cooking or the fridge.”

“I see…”

“So I have a lot of mayonnaise and canned tuna. You like your tuna in water or oil?”

Barnaby groaned.

 

Tuna in water, chunky, with so much mayonnaise it made Barnaby’s stomach turn. That was Tiger’s breakfast and apparently all other meals as well. Barnaby didn’t see how he could be healthy enough to live off that, but at one point Tiger hauled a pile of beef jerky out of a box for them so there was probably other food he didn’t know about. 

The other parts of the tower he saw were what he expected. Office rooms, bathrooms, break room, hallways, some finished and some unfinished. Tiger wouldn’t let him go higher than the seventh floor because he said it was dangerous. Barnaby believed him. As possible as it was that Tiger could be hiding something, Barnaby knew the place was an abandoned project. Such structures were often a little unsafe. Unless he strongly suspected something, he wasn’t going to ignore Tiger and go up there.

Tiger took them to a small dock outside the tower, walled off from the world around them and thus safe for Tiger to be outside. 

“I come out here for air,” he had explained. “It’s salty and not that fresh because of the city, but it’s better than the dusty stuff in there.”

Barnaby had to agree.

Tiger told him about the people in the slums as they walked up and down the hallways. “I have to watch over them a little. A lot of assholes out there take advantage, you know? Not everyone can afford to live in or even get out of Stern Bild, so they wind up making their own little areas, one of which is here. They have to steal sometimes, they have to lie, they have to beg, but they’re not bad people.”

“I have to admit, I was surprised it was so safe when I first came down here.” Barnaby took note of everything around him, so he wouldn’t find himself lost at any point. 

“When you have a, ah, ‘monster’ to keep away the bad guys, it sure helps. They don’t have to worry about getting attacked as much.”

“How come they don’t have more help from the police?” Barnaby asked meekly. He’d learned a lot at the Academy, and hell even on his own, but it was different to experience the real world. Stern Bild had enough problems as it was, so why should the citizens above bother with what they considered ‘dirtbags’ and often too low for even basic charities?

“Police don’t care. Well, that’s not fair of me to say. Some probably do, but they’re often stretched thin as it is. Something worse is always happening or about to happen. Even the other heroes care, we all do, but it’s hard to know exactly what to do-“

“We?” Barnaby stopped and raised an eyebrow.

Kotetsu continued looking ahead, and answered way too fast. “We as a population, I mean!”

“Hmmm.” Barnaby knew he was lying, but he let it slide for that moment. It was not forgotten, but he wanted Tiger to continue. 

“Anyway, they needed some help down here.”

“I see. Why do you help them?”

“I want to help people…isn’t that enough?”

Barnaby couldn’t help but feel like he’d heard or seen that quote somewhere, but he failed to remember. “Okay, but-but Tiger, I thought you were trying to hide here.” Or something. “Won’t more people learn about you? Because I imagine you’re not protecting people by watching from your tower.” He looked at Tiger, who walked beside him on all fours.

Tiger shook his head. “I’ll deal with that when it comes up.”

“Not a very good plan.”

“I don’t need all of the city knowing about me. And yes, true, the more I involve myself in their welfare, the sooner I will be exposed. But I can’t just keep out of it either.”

There was a lot more to Tiger than Barnaby could have fathomed. Again, he was so human. He thought things through – sort of, it seemed he could easily get himself into a situation – and he had empathy. A lot of feelings, in fact.

Barnaby started to say more but his call bracelet went off. He’d forgotten about it, and he looked at it with a frown. “I have to go…” He didn’t have to answer it to know he was being called for something important.

“What!?” Tiger stopped walking. “Why?”

“You’re intelligent, and know about heroes.” More than he was probably admitting… “So you know we get called into action, right?”

“Uh, oh yea.”

“My call band is going off.” Barnaby held his wrist in front of Tiger’s face. Tiger sniffed it. “So I have to go.”

“Will you come back?” Tiger asked, watching Barnaby pull his arm away. 

He looked a little desperate. “I will, I kind of have to come back.”

“For information.”

“Yes…”

Tiger regarded him in such a way that Barnaby found himself unable to read him. Then he shrugged. “I’ll be waiting for you later than, Lil’ Bunny.”

Barnaby nodded and immediately set about leaving the tower. He felt guilty doing so, actually felt bad. He didn’t want to leave Tiger behind, he’d rather he came with him even though that was ridiculous. Of course he would be returning, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling he had.

He left his few items behind at Tiger’s. He didn’t need them, in fact it was best they were there so he could bring other items he needed over. In the meantime he just made his way to Apollon to see what was going on. 

A phone call was in order, too. Barnaby had a funny idea…and just an idea, he didn’t know…but he needed to see if he was right. After he dealt with the call he needed to take another look at videos featuring Kotetsu. 

He needed to know what his voice sounded like. 

 

Barnaby had a bad feeling as he walked around the Apollon building. The call was over and done with. The situation that time had been a bank robbery, though the robbers had some pretty nasty guns on hand and it took a great deal of time and planning to get close to them without causing damage to the building too.

In the end Barnaby grabbed a lot of points, but not as much as he wanted to. Dragon Kid dropped in and stole the show, and when she smiled at Barnaby he only offered her a scowl. She made a confused face and jumped away. There was no point in lingering so Barnaby went to his transport and changed for the ride back.

Lloyds was not happy with him.

Barnaby entered his office to be lectured immediately, because he had taken a while to show up and was not readily available for everything. “I don’t know about this little side project you’re doing,” Lloyds had grumbled. “Leave Wild Tiger to the police, you’re a hero and HeroTV needs you.”

“I thought the people of the city needed me?” Barnaby asked spitefully, even if he didn’t care about them all that much.

“Certainly, but you’re not here for them either,” Lloyds pointed out. “I don’t mind if you keep searching, but it’s not your priority. The police have been looking for Tiger for a while now, if he’s out there, they’ll find him.”

Barnaby wanted so badly to say something. He knew the tower had not been checked. He knew no one bothered to poke their heads in the poorer areas, because why would Kotetsu be there?

“I do believe this is my priority, Lloyds. My history in searching for Ouroboros has provided me with some sort of investigative experience.” It didn’t matter that he hadn’t had any luck. Ouroboros was skilled at hiding. Most people didn’t seem to realize they existed.

“Barnaby,” Lloyds sighed, “…this isn’t all from me. Maverick contacted me when he tried to stop by your place early this morning and you weren’t there. You weren’t here, so where were you? Shouldn’t you be telling your guardian?”

“Sorry, sir, but I’m no longer so young that I need a guardian to know where I am.” Barnaby did feel a small pang of guilt, since Maverick had always been so good to him. Perhaps he could tell Maverick of his findings, he would be excited for Barnaby, he just knew it! He could trust Maverick. And having him on his side would get Lloyds off his back. 

“Maybe not,” Lloyds continued. “But as CEO of HeroTV he needs to-“

“I’m going to go talk to him on my own,” Barnaby declared, eyes blazing and jaw set firm. “I will call him, and straighten things out.”

Lloyds watched him and let out a defeated sigh. “Do as you will, Barnaby, but you can only pull this sort of thing so often. Guess you’d better get it out of your system now.”

Barnaby nodded and left, wanting to laugh. Lloyds wasn’t giving him a free pass because he wanted to, it was because he had to. Barnaby had the power of Maverick behind him, and he wasn’t afraid to invoke it when he needed to. Really, he was surprised Lloyds had the audacity to argue with him on it. Kotetsu needed to be found, right?

He had opened his phone to call Maverick while he left the building, but before he could dial the numbers another call came through. He didn’t recognize it. It could be anyone from Apollon or HeroTV, so he reluctantly answered. “Hello?”

“Barnaby! It’s Rock Bison!”

“Oh.” He didn’t know what to say. “Well, what is it?”

“Just wondering if you’ve found any evidence on Kotetsu, you know, because we haven’t exactly had a chance to catch up and talk about it.”

“What I have found I am keeping to myself.” Barnaby knew Rock Bison was concerned, but he was unwilling to share with him. He had no idea if Rock Bison would try to contact anyone else, or insist on going with him to see Tiger, or anything. And Barnaby was yet still unsure if there would even be a damn reason for Rock Bison to know about Tiger. 

“But you have found something, yes?” 

He almost ignored the question, but he couldn’t really dodge it. “I have leads, and I have ideas. That is all I can say at the moment.”

“You know, of everyone who you can share this stuff with..well, like I said Kotetsu and I are close friends. I’d really like to know if there is some news about my friend.” Rock Bison sounded agitated.

“Right, but I don’t have anything solid,” Barnaby said, choosing his words very carefully. Because it was true, he didn’t. “I am going to find some videos of Kotetsu to watch, that’s my next step, and after that- unsure. If you expect me to share more with you right now, you’re better off hanging up.”

Rock Bison sighed. “My friend isn’t an excuse for you to get points and attention.”

Barnaby stopped walking, biting the very inside of his cheek in an attempt to not get pissed, because at the moment he was getting frustrated. “Does it even matter if he is? For points, I am interested in finding him even sooner.”

“…I suppose that makes sense.”

“Yes. I’m sure there are some videos in his file, or online from interviews, and I need to see those immediately.” 

“Fine. But listen, when you find him, I’d like to be the first person you call. He’ll be busy calling his daughter, no doubt, which means you’ll be free to tell me.”

Daughter? “Okay.” Maybe. “I need to go,” he said, and hung up before Rock Bison even had a chance to answer. He wished the man hadn’t gotten access to his phone number, but he wasn’t calling to harass Barnaby or ask annoying favors, so for the moment it wasn’t really a big deal. 

He looked at his phone, remembering he was going to call Maverick. In his current mood, he decided it was okay if it waited. Talking to Rock Bison made him feel even more impatient about getting home to his chair and computer.

On the way he wondered if he was losing it. There was no reason to be matching Tiger to Kotetsu, name thing aside. He had no proof Tiger was Wild Tiger, but something told him to think about it anyway. He didn’t know Kotetsu personally, and so he didn’t know his personality enough to compare it to Tiger’s.

Yet…he knew that Kotetsu was a hero who had put more thought into saving people than he did damage fines and common sense. Reading about him gave Barnaby a certain kind of warmth that he didn’t know how to explain, but he could feel it creeping on him when he was with Tiger.

Tiger was very interested in the fact Barnaby was a hero, and he spoke as if he had been one or knew one, maybe even worked with one. He wasn’t so serious and Barnaby had flipped through enough to know Kotetsu was kind of a goofball. He’d seen him acting like an idiot on TV too. It wasn’t like he’d never heard Kotetsu’s voice before, he just hadn’t paid attention as he should have. 

Then there was the gut feeling. Barnaby didn’t get ‘gut feelings’. He relied on learning and analyzing a situation, drawing small clues if that’s all he had and thinking them over, unfolding a possible story from them and pursuing those ideas to see where they went. But when it came to Tiger and Kotetsu, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had found Kotetsu. He just had no idea how he became what he became. 

Once seated in his chair Barnaby wasted no time in looking up a video of Kotetsu, from a few months ago when he appeared on a late night show. He stared hard, immediately recognizing his shade of hair as the spikes of fur that jutted from Tiger’s head and neck. And Kotetsu’s beard – the dark markings on Tiger’s jaw! Too close…

Then he spoke, and Barnaby closed his eyes so he could take it in properly. He listened to Kotetsu as he was serious, as he laughed, as he got annoyed by questions about points, as he sighed and hummed.

Oh yes.

He knew that voice!


	2. Sickness and Protection

Barnaby packed up a backpack that night, with food more appetizing to him and more water. He packed the photo of his parents, feeling wrong for leaving it at home the night before. He felt like he should bring Tiger something, but what? 

On the way there Barnaby bought a brush for Tiger’s fur. He stood in the aisle of the store feeling dumb as he turned it in his hands. A brush, really? Tiger’s fur was a little dirty though, matted too in areas and not as nice and orderly as Tiger probably tried to keep it. So he got some pet shampoo too. He expected there was clean water somewhere, since Tiger wasn’t disgustingly dirty and needed something to drink too.

Feeling totally stupid Barnaby got a toothbrush and some soap too, and lotion. All travel size type things because he could only carry so much and it was- it was dumb to bring a lot for another night with Tiger. He was probably going to have to leave the next day on a call again, and he did not need to be making himself more comfortable.

But there was something different since he knew that was Kotetsu. 

Something more personal, actual verification that he wasn’t a super intelligent animal or a weapon. Barnaby still had questions that Tiger seemed to indicate he had answers for, and until he got them…

Tiger was going to be Tiger and have no idea that Barnaby knew he was Kotetsu. Yea, good plan. They’d just hide what they knew from each other. 

Barnaby didn’t have a damn clue what he was doing.

He really didn’t. There had to be something wrong with him, going to spend time with a man turned beast and wanting to bring him gifts! But, it was different. His current life, while it was nothing to piss away, wasn’t bringing him that much joy, no sense of adventure, and was devoid of answers no matter what. 

He didn’t get a rush anything like the one he got when he entered the tower and called out. “Tiger!”

It was not as dark as the night before, but it was a bit hard to see and he’d forgotten his flashlight. 

“You’re back!” he heard a delighted roar and once again had no idea where it had come from.

Barnaby climbed down to the floor where he had been tackled the night before and braced himself. He heard the running, heard the heavy feet hit the ground, and was sure he’d be knocked over – but instead, Tiger came into view and came to a very clumsy stop with his nose just inches from Barnaby’s. And the way his lips were pulled back, it was absolutely horrifying but Barnaby was sure he was trying to grin. “You came back!”

“Well, yes, I said I would,” Barnaby replied puzzled. He hadn’t left in a huff or run away earlier, he had just gone because he had a call to answer. “Did you think I wouldn’t?”

“I don’t really know…hey, you brought a backpack!”

“Yes, I did. Can we go to the bedroom?” Barnaby asked, face heating up when he asked that. It was innocent. He wanted to go to the room where he knew candles provided more light and calming atmosphere. However, it was a line he knew addressed…other stuff.

Tiger blinked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Ah…”

“I want to show you something and it’s hard to see in here,” Barnaby explained.

“Oh! Of course! Come on then, Lil’ Bunny.” 

Once again Barnaby followed Tiger through the maze of hallways and doorways, which were already becoming familiar. It was a good feeling. He liked being more aware of where he was. The darkness slipped in more gradually and soon he could see no more, but it didn’t matter because soon he saw the glow of the candles.

They entered the room and Barnaby detected a woody, kind of forest smell that time. Tiger had changed scents. Barnaby was curious to know how he lit them, but he would ask about that when he asked about the water.

His makeshift bed was still there, so Barnaby took off his backpack and sat down with it.

“Well, what did you want to show me?” Tiger asked as he paced on two legs in front of Barnaby.

“Stop moving, will you?” Barnaby huffed and unzipped his backpack. “It’s annoying.”

“I’ll pace if I want to!” Tiger declared, but he stopped moving. 

Barnaby hesitated over his backpack. Initially he was going to pull out the brush, but Tiger looked better groomed than he remembered, and what the hell was he going to say anyway? ‘Hi, here’s a brush’? Wow, that buy had been a dumb idea for sure.

So he switched ideas and tactics, fishing out the picture with his parents instead. He had wrapped the frame carefully in a shirt and he unrolled it from the fabric very slowly. “Come look at this picture,” he said, throat feeling dry.

“Picture?” Tiger tilted his head and walked over, plopping down next to Barnaby a little too closely. His furry side touched Barnaby’s arm.

“Yes I…remember how I wanted to ask you about Ouroboros?”

“Oh. That.” Tiger sounded dejected. “Yes, I remember.”

“These are my parents. …Were my parents.” Barnaby held up the picture so they both could look, and noted Tiger’s cheek being too near his own as he stretched forward to look. 

“Were?”

“Ouroboros killed them, or a member of the group did. I don’t know why.” It made his heart heavy just talking about it. He missed them. He always missed them. Kotetsu was a father, maybe that would help him understand. He had also lost his wife to illness, so he had to understand death and loss of a loved one.

“No wonder you’re so desperate for information.” Tiger’s voice was soft. It sounded so like Kotetsu on the video, though a little deeper and with what Barnaby could only describe as a ‘growly undertone’. “I didn’t know they were killed.”

Barnaby forced himself not to let fly with a snappy reply. He didn’t want to be a dick. “Yea…” 

“Don’t worry Lil’ Bunny, I will help you.” He pushed his big nose against the side of Barnaby’s head and Barnaby jerked away from the touch naturally. “Hey, I’m not gonna bite.”

“I know that.” Barnaby turned to set the picture up on the desk with the candles. “I just…”

“Shush. You need to sleep now, it’s late isn’t it?”

“No. It’s just dark.”

“Oh. Well, for us big cats, it’s always time to sleep. Don’t worry. It’ll all turn out,” he said, the encouragement soothing the grief that was threatening to dominate Barnaby in that moment. He was like that whenever he really sat down and studied that picture, wishing he could remember the moment it was taken.

But since he’d been so small, his memories were spotty at best. 

“Things will be okay, Lil’ Bunny. It just seems hard now because you’re in some old building and it’s not cozy like home, and it’s a little cold and I’m sure my breath smells bad…”

Barnaby smiled, though he didn’t feel that happy. His feelings on his parents and the murder didn’t change, even if he was in his own home, which wasn’t cozy in the least. 

Tiger sighed and lowered his furry chin to rest it on Barnaby’s shoulder. His fishy breath was way too hot and moist on his neck, but Barnaby didn’t pull away again.

 

It would have been preferable to spend the night talking to Tiger and asking my questions. But Barnaby was tired and not sure what to ask, not yet. He opted to just go to sleep after Tiger stopped intruding on his personal space and went to go look outside, for whatever reason. Barnaby imagined it was a sort of ‘patrol’ since he seemed to stand guard.

He woke up really early as a result, cold again. He didn’t feel very good, his head heavy and chills running through his body. His blankets weren’t enough and the building didn’t have heat running through it. Add to the fact that it was in the end months of the year where temperatures dropped and snow sometimes fell, and it was nearing his birthday…ugh. Why couldn’t it be summer? The tower would have been cool and welcome. 

Tiger was sprawled on his stomach, nose shoved under some pillows and it looked like he would be out quite some time so Barnaby decided to get up and look around on his own. He didn’t expect to find much, but he could explore where they hadn’t walked yet. He hoped to uncover something.

He walked into the hallway and felt lost right away, but as he walked further from the room and close to the stairwell, the number said they were on the fifth level. Okay, that was something. Barnaby would check that floor, and then maybe go up the other two levels and then take a break. He really didn’t feel good. 

The fifth level was devoid of anything interesting. Unfinished mess, really. It was the sixth floor where he found anything at all, two locked doors and a big bathroom with a hose attached to one of the sinks. Barnaby had to abandon trying to open those doors after a few techniques for picking locks. The rooms could have been locked when the place was abandon, or Tiger had something in there. Either way, Barnaby wanted to know and he was confident he would have time to look before Tiger woke up.

Tiger wouldn’t get too mad if he caught him…probably…

The hose in the bathroom surprised him, and Barnaby approached the sink carefully. The pipes didn’t look rusted; they looked replaced- and how. The job that had been done on them sure was special. There was a lot of duct tape, mostly. It had been rigged to get water somehow. Barnaby wasn’t sure how Tiger had done that. No water ran to the building, did it? Or was that another forgotten detail? 

He turned the handle and- yep. There was water! Hot and cold, even, and Barnaby felt relief wash over him. If he ran out of his own water he would be okay. He ran his hands under the hot water with a happy sigh, his cold fingers feeling so much better as he did so. 

His whole body still was very cold…

On the discovery of the water, Barnaby felt a little better about where he was. He still needed to look at the other floors, and he would get to it, but the chill he felt was bothering him and his head throbbed even more. 

He dug his phone from his pocket. There wasn’t electricity to charge it so maybe it had been a dumb idea, but he wanted to have contact with the outside world just in case, and he could see the time. It was nine in the morning, and yesterday Tiger had woken up much later…

Barnaby left the tower, but he didn’t go far. He visited the town outside to track something down.

The people were amazingly helpful. A nice young woman with her red hair pulled back in a ponytail led him to her ‘house’, part of an old furniture store. The place smelled terrible, and it was dusty, but it was organized and decorative. Her children were playing with some little car toys, and seemed pretty content. Barnaby watched them awkwardly as he tried not to sit anywhere. He didn’t know where the smell was coming from and didn’t feel like accidentally sitting or stepping in the source.

The woman emerged with a little cart carrying a box that contained a portable kerosene heater. Barnaby breathed a sigh of relief and paid her well over what it was worth, which had her practically groveling at his feet in thanks. It’d been unused, part of stock that was never bought and she apparently didn’t need it.

The groveling made him uncomfortable.

Barnaby wheeled the heater back without incident. No one paid him any mind on the way back, which he found strange, but it could simply be that he was old news there by that point. 

He entered Tiger’s bed room just as the beast stirred. Barnaby set the box on the floor to open it with his pocketknife while Tiger yawned and stretched and made a variety of grumbly noises. He shook his head a few times and turned to face Barnaby.

“Whaddya doin?” he asked, still groggy.

“I got a heater. It’s cold in here.”

“Is it? I have a lot of fur…”

“I’ve noticed,” Barnaby replied and was unable to hold back a snort of amusement.

Tiger dragged himself over to Barnaby, watching him unpack the heater. “You should have told me you were cold! I would have helped,” he said, sounding genuinely concerned. 

Barnaby was touched. He said nothing as he finished hauling the heater out of the box. The thing looked like a small cannon, and he knew it would heat the room just fine, so he wouldn’t be waking up cold on other mornings. …Other mornings? 

Well he highly doubted he’d been there long enough for Tiger to trust him yet. He wouldn’t trust someone after sort of knowing them two days. But he had so much he had to do…

He sat down on his own blankets, head starting to swim. Asking questions was going to be hard since he was losing grip of an actual plan to stick to. It was also hard when he felt like passing out. A little tingle was starting in his throat too, and he wasn’t too happy about that. 

“You don’t look so good,” Tiger said, making some kind of creepy face.

“I don’t feel good.” Barnaby took a deep breath.

Tiger came closer, lowering his nose to Barnaby’s chest and then tilting his head. His eyes flickered up to meet Barnaby’s. “You’re sick.”

“Are you sniffing my chest?” Barnaby wanted that to stop and he wanted it to stop right that moment.

“Listening. I was seeing if you were having trouble breathing, but I guess not.”

“Why would I-“

“I think you have a cold. I know it’s cold, I guess, but you must have a serious case of the chills to get that,” he said, nodding at the heater. “Plus you just look sick. I know how to tell when someone is sick.” He broke the gaze he held with Barnaby, looking off to the side.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Barnaby asked, and it took him a minute to remember his wife had died of sickness. That kind of thing had to leave an impression on Kotetsu. 

Tiger lifted his nose up and rested a furry paw..hand?...on Barnaby’s chest lightly. “It means, you’re going to rest and have water and I think I have canned chicken noodle soup somewhere.”

“Um, okay.”

“And if your call band goes off, you say you can’t go because you’re sick. Actually, you should call in now so that they can plan for it.” 

He said it so seriously that Barnaby actually reached for his phone. But he stopped. “Wait, I can’t do that! It’s just a cold, I need to answer calls!”

“A cold still means you’re sick which still means you need to rest.”

“It’s not like calling out of a normal office job or something, Tiger.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Tiger’s eyes went wide as he realized he failed to catch himself. He blinked several times before he glared at Barnaby. “It’s the kind of job you need to be in top shape for. You’re not.”

It made sense, but Barnaby still felt conflicted. He should stay, he wanted to stay and figure things out, but he also knew he had a duty to Maverick, Lloyds, and the city, and all that together was a little daunting.

Although if he told Maverick he was sick, he would understand. Maverick cared about his wellbeing more than anyone. 

“I’ll take care of you. Don’t worry,” Tiger said soothingly, his deep voice calming Barnaby’s stressed mind. “I got some teabags around here too and I’ll make you some- do you like lemon teas?”

“Um, sure.” Barnaby stared up at him, then looked at the paw on his chest. “And what am I going to say? I’m sick and doing my investigation and-“

“No, no, all you need to do is say you are sick.”

“What if Maverick tries to visit me? He’s my guardian.”

“Tell him you were out at the time because you needed some medicine.”

Barnaby took a deep breath and cringed. His throat was starting to hurt more, and he was sure it wouldn’t be long until it hurt too much to talk. When he exhaled a little cough came out too. “I guess so.” No one was going to believe him. Barnaby didn’t just call out sick or vanish. 

Tiger obviously wasn’t going to let him leave, though, and he really did feel like shit. 

Barnaby took off his glasses and put them on the desk before lying on his back. “The heater…”

“I’ll start that.” Tiger lifted his paw and stepped away. “But first…” He gathered two more thick blankets and brought them to Barnaby, and carefully laid them over him.

“You don’t have to do this,” Barnaby said, feeling embarrassed. At the same time he felt good. It was nice, being taken care of against his will.

“I don’t care.” Tiger made sure it covered him neatly, smoothing the edges before putting on the second, and then the two Barnaby had been using. They helped, the chill subsided a bit. Tiger brought the edges of all up them up to Barnaby’s shoulders, his furry fingers lightly brushing against Barnaby’s curls. They felt warm, and Barnaby wanted to turn his face against them.

Tiger was done well before he would have acted on that urge. Barnaby felt comfortable under his blankets, almost like he was in a little cocoon. The drowsiness was winning out too. 

“Rest now Lil’ Bunny. When you wake up I’ll have water and tea for you, and if you’re hungry something for that too.”

“Okay. Oh! …I still need to call Maverick.”

“When you wake up. I doubt you’ll sleep for very long with a cough coming on to disrupt you.”

Barnaby groaned, because Tiger was right and it didn’t sound like a good time in the least. “Yea, true.” His brain wanted them both to shut up so he could sleep. 

“Get to sleep,” Tiger chuckled. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Got…it…” Barnaby managed to say before sleep won out.

 

He woke up with a lot of pain in his throat, much more than he had fallen asleep with. His nose felt stuffed and everything was uncomfortable and he hated his life. He couldn’t move because he was sure if he did it would make his throat hurt more somehow. With a lot of willpower he managed to turn his head at least. 

He could see a box of tissues right beside him, opened, with one tissue ready to be grabbed. There was a jug of water too. Other than that he could make out the furry black and orange back of Tiger but he couldn’t tell what he was doing. Without his glasses he was pretty lost. 

“Tiger,” he croaked and regretted it, his throat hurt so badly.

He sighed and tried to rest better on his pillow as Tiger turned around to look down at him. “How’re you feeling?”

…What kind of a question was that? Barnaby glared at him, hoping to look intimidating and not totally pathetic. “Sick.”

“Just making sure…” Tiger paused before bustling around, messing around with something Barnaby couldn’t see. And then a cup was shoved at him. “Lemon honey tea for your throat! If you put a pot of water right on that heater it gets hot enough to make stuff,” he explained before Barnaby could question him on getting steaming hot water. 

He took the cup by the handle and only sipped at it due to the heat. “Would you hand me my glasses? …please.”

Tige handed them to him and backed away again, sitting on his haunches and just looking at him. “Tell me if you need anything else.”

“An aspirin…”

“By the tissues.”

Barnaby slipped his glasses on with his free hand and took another peek at things next to him. Sure enough there was a bottle of aspirin. He noticed something else too, laying against the blankets that covered his legs.

There was a large pink plush bunny laying there with a happy expression, like it had no worries in the world. “What the…”

“Haven’t you ever been brought a stuffed animal when sick?” Tiger asked, following Barnaby’s gaze. “I thought, you know, something other than stuff for your cold, and it’s so cute!”

“Are you serious?” Barnaby grabbed at his own throat and cringed. “Why would you…ow…why would you think that was – oooow – a good idea?”

“Stop talking if it keeps hurting,” was the only answer he got. Tiger huffed and studied Barnaby. “You still have to call work.”

“Fine, fine, yea, I will. Where’s my-“

“Near the tissues also.”

Barnaby found his phone and offered Tiger a frown. Tiger didn’t deserve a frown, but Barnaby found himself uncomfortable with all the care and the toy. He didn’t like being ‘parented’ by someone who wasn’t his parent. He was sure that was what Tiger was doing; as Kotetsu he had a daughter and probably missed her a lot. 

He called Maverick, but got no answer, so he left a message. He thought it should be good enough, he was sick, didn’t feel up to coming to work, but he was resting and medicating and he would be in top shape for tomorrow, many apologies and if Lloyds was angry he would make it up to him somehow. The entire time he left the message, Tiger watched him. The expression on his face was almost blank, but Barnaby could tell he looked conflicted about something.

He finished his tea and then had some water. Luckily he didn’t have to go to the bathroom, so he didn’t have to move. He didn’t want to. “I think I’m going to pass out again,” he complained. He didn’t want to sleep! He wanted to talk and have things explained! If Tiger didn’t know anything about Ouroboros, Barnaby was sure he would have said something. So he had to have information for him.

But…..but his eyes were shutting. 

“Go to sleep,” Kotetsu’s voice commanded and Barnaby wanted to protest and argue for the sake of arguing. 

He lost that battle pretty quickly.

The rest of the day was left floating in and out of consciousness. Barnaby had bad dreams, about his parents being shot, about losing points, about getting sicker, about seeing Tiger shot…about being surrounded by Ouroboros and having Kotetsu – not Tiger, but Kotetsu – come to his rescue. 

The dream caused him to startle himself awake, genuinely surprised to have that kind of dream. He depended on himself only, he didn’t need another hero saving him. He sat up straight and caught his breath, trying to ignore his throat and the heavy feeling in his chest. 

“You okay!?” Tiger was over him in a second, nose too close to Barnaby’s, fluffy paw against his forehead as if he would be able to feel anything at all through the fur. “What’s wrong?”

“Bad dream, that’s all.” Barnaby shoved his paw off him and struggled out of his blankets. 

“No, keep sleeping, you-“

“I need some space, and the bathroom.”

“Oh.” 

Barnaby stood and made sure he at least had his balance. He felt like crap, but he didn’t feel the way he had when he had awoken hours ago. It was hours, right? “What time is it?”

“I dunno, but you slept all day. Its dark out.”

“It is!?” Barnaby’s eyes went wide, he hadn’t realized he slept the whole day there. Not good! He was losing time! He didn’t know what to do about it, so he shook his head at himself and just started walking away.

“Hey Lil’ Bunny let me show you how to get there!” Tiger started to follow him.

Barnaby turned way too fast for his head to agree with and fixed Tiger with a glare. “I’m fine! I know where I’m going, so stop following me!”

Tiger didn’t follow him.

It wasn’t until Barnaby had unfortunately chosen a toilet that didn’t flush and walked out of the bathroom swearing that he realized he had never told Tiger he explored the tower and thus knew where the bathroom was. Sloppy! How could he do that?

He coughed and figured the cold was probably at fault for making him tired and unable to think clearly. Still, he was beyond frustrated with himself and decided not to go back to the room right away. Tiger already knew he had snooped around, so what did it matter if he went on another walk? He may not be in shape to walk around, but he didn’t care. He needed to clear his head.

The fact that he was not acting responsibly on anything was bothering him a lot. He wasn’t treating his job as a hero like a job at all, and he wasn’t finding anything that related to his parents’ murder. He was willingly staying with Tiger instead of taking some sort of official action. At the very least he needed to expose him as Kotetsu so that his friends, family, and HeroTV could breathe a sigh of relief.

But he still didn’t want to. 

For the first time in his life he was in control of what he did, and how. It was just a shame he wasn’t sure which steps were the correct ones to take.

He had located a window on the third floor to look out at the water. It made him dizzy, watching the waves, but if he closed his eyes he could think more as he listened to the ocean. The dust from the windowsill irritated him a lot and made it hard to breathe but he stayed there until he heard footsteps.

Barnaby didn’t need to look up. “Sorry. I know you probably don’t like me walking around here.”

“It’s alright. I should have expected you to want to know more about where you were staying, and I didn’t show you everything.”

It’s not like he was moving in there. Barnaby didn’t say that. “Mmm.”

“I’m more annoyed you’re sick while you’re walking around.”

Barnaby made a fist and looked at him finally. “Why are you…nursing me so much?” he was careful not to say parenting. “You don’t need to dote on me like this.” He appreciated having some water and tissues, but making him tea and getting him a stuffed animal…

“I can’t do anything else.”

“Huh?” 

Tiger looked at the floor. “I’m sick of being here and I can only do so much for the people out there without getting caught sooner than I’d like, and someone will come for me sooner or later, so…I haven’t been much help to anyone in a long time. Even when I could, it wasn’t all that fulfilling. Guess it didn’t matter by then. Things just, they just…”

Barnaby was stunned by what he was hearing. The day before, hadn’t Tiger been so positive about the help he could offer to those few around them? 

Wait. He had to backtrack to Kotetsu.

Kotetsu was a man who lived far from the family he did have, and was still hurting from his wife’s death. He didn’t say it plainly anyway, but as Barnaby learned about him he could see it in the way Kotetsu answered questions and when he would kiss his ring. 

On top of that ache, his popularity was in decline because he had become a reckless old man who pined after the old vision of a hero. He was a good person who did a lot of dumb shit and was probably alone a lot, current circumstances aside.

“Well, they just…” Barnaby still looked at him and prompted him to continue. He would have a talk if Tiger wanted to, sore throat and some social discomfort aside.

Tiger shook his head. “Nevermind, what am I saying? Come on and lay back down. You need to rest.” He turned to walk back to the room.

“Tiger…” Barnaby wanted to say something, but he didn’t know what. So he just followed. 

 

The rest of the evening was uneventful. He drank more tea and Tiger made him eat chicken noodle soup from a can, even if it was rather beneath him and he lacked an appetite anyway. But he forced it down. Tiger tried to get him to sleep with the bunny, but Barnaby was having none of that. It did get a little chuckle out of him when Tiger tried to make a higher voice for the bunny. “Love me! Love meeee!” the ‘bunny’ said, trying to apparently cuddle on his chest. Barnaby pushed it away and smiled, and eventually Tiger gave up and went to adjust the space heater.

Barnaby slept well that night. Due to his bad dreams during the day he thought he would have his full-blown nightmares, but he didn’t. He had nice dreams of tea and tigers.

 

When he woke up his body ached, and his throat still hurt, but it was dull as opposed to sharp and throbbing. He had a headache and cough still but he still felt better in a way. It was late in the morning and he was warm. Those were the next things he noticed.  
He sat up, and then stood up for his glasses and to go find the toilet he had been assured worked. Tiger was dead asleep again so Barnaby just went. He returned to the room right away instead of wandering. Tiger was still asleep, but Barnaby decided he didn’t want to wait.

Barnaby stepped on the pile of blankets and pillows carefully, nearly falling down. He didn’t want to crawl, that would be too weird. He made it without falling at least and shook Tiger’s shoulder. “Hey Ti-“

Tiger flinched and then scrambled to his feet suddenly, knocking Barnaby on his feet and roaring. His eyes looked wild for a second and he pounced Barnaby, his front legs over his torso and his features drawn back in a menacing growl. The worst, though, was that he lit up with a blue glow.

Hundred power…

Barnaby stared back with his eyes narrowed. Oh, he was scared enough in that moment that he was glad he’d already taken a piss, but he didn’t want to show it. “Cut that shit out!”

Tiger growled again before realizing where he was. His eyes actually met Barnaby’s and they looked troubled. Barnaby’s expression softened. Tiger backed off so fast he nearly toppled over, winding up near the corner of the room. “S-sorry sometimes I act like that without realizing it.”

Like an animal. Well, that made sense. Barnaby had noticed more animal behaviors in Tiger, like when he sniffed him or listened to his chest. Barnaby doubted he was turning into an animal completely, but he might have some instincts that surfaced when his body changed and they refused to go away.

“You’re staring….” Tiger said, scrunching himself more into the corner.

“Oh, I didn’t mean…anyway, its fine. I woke you up so we could talk.”

Tiger didn’t approach that. “You still sick?”

“Yes…”

“I almost bit you.”

“No you didn’t,” Barnaby snorted. “I surprised you when I woke you up.”

“But I started thinking maybe I should bite.”

“You didn’t, so can we move on?”

“Um…”

Tiger paused for a long time, allowed Barnaby to step off his bed and go back to his own so he could drink water and take aspirin. Barnaby wanted to press but Tiger had seemingly scared himself and he felt wrong about pushing him at that moment.

“Bunny, go to your apartment and sleep in your own bed.” 

“Huh!?” That took him by surprised.

Tiger finally moved only to walk to the doorway. “I want you to go home, be better and be in fighting shape if you need it before you come back here.”

“Oh come on! You’re overreacting!” Barnaby couldn’t believe his ears!

“Better safe than sorry!”

“That’s stupid, you can’t get anywhere if you don’t take risks!” Barnaby knew that was true, and he started to follow Tiger but stopped himself. It felt wrong to follow him then.

“I refuse to risk anyone but myself,” Tiger said coldly. “Go home.”

He then left the room. 

 

Barnaby went home, but it wasn’t due to the way Tiger had acted or simply because he said so. He went back to make an appearance at Apollon even though he was still sick. Barnaby didn’t have any interest in the slightest in regards to being there, but he figured it could keep Lloyds and anyone else at bay.

He went on a call. He did paperwork, or tried anyway, but there was another call.

By the time he got home it was late and he was so exhausted from the action and being ill that he went to bed. He tossed and turned because he didn’t really want to be there. He’d left that stuffed bunny back at Tiger’s…plus he had to grill him for more information. The truth was, though, he was starting to doubt there was any valuable information. Every second he spent at that tower felt like he was just there so Tiger wouldn’t be lonely. There was no evidence of Ouroboros unless it was hidden behind one of the locked doors but even then Barnaby doubted it.

Kotetsu was someone who wouldn’t have gotten involved in such an organization, Barnaby could tell. He was too much about being a hero, and he had no interest – or talent – in being a spy or anything that would have him close to the group. He had been turned into a monster, probably by a NEXT, and hid in the tower.

That’ all there was to it.

But he still didn’t know for sure, and that blanket of uncertainty worried him. If only his ideas could be verified and proven true…

That would only be possible if he went back. That was all he wanted to do anyway, so he supposed that wasn’t so bad. When he woke up the next morning he spent the time packing yet more to bring with him to Tiger’s, including a big mug for him and some instant coffee for the guy. He made a note to get buns and hot dogs, because Rock Bison had mentioned at one point that Kotetsu liked them. 

He brought warmer clothes too –including gloves and a hat. Didn’t Kotetsu like hats? Barnaby made a note to get him one. He also threw some granola bars into his packing, and some crackers. It was great and all that they could use the space heater but it was a good idea to have other things.

The bad thing was that he couldn’t go back that morning. He could only pack. With the entire day ahead of him he knew he had better make another appearance at work, something to satisfy Lloyds for another day. Maybe. 

Again it was just another day of calls and paperwork. Barnaby avoided the gym both that day and the previous one so he could avoid Rock Bison. He didn’t have anything for him yet and didn’t feel like dealing with questions or complaints when he was in fact paying all his attention to Kotetsu.

When he was out that evening and ready to go, Maverick called. Barnaby answered and with a sigh, accepted an invitation to visit Maverick and have some coffee. He hadn’t planned how to explain himself to Maverick yet, since he didn’t feel right telling him all his progress. Tiger would have been upset with him. 

“How are you doing, my boy?” Maverick welcomed him as he arrived at his home, greeting Barnaby right at the door.

“Still a little sick, but it is down to a headache and occasional cough,” Barnaby answered with a smile.

“Good to hear. I was worried you might be making yourself only sicker by continuing to be at work instead of at home – glad to know that’s not the case!” Maverick led him to the living room, though Barnaby had been there many times. It was a warm and comfortable place though there was always something about it that was off, and he couldn’t pinpoint what that was. 

Barnaby chose a spot on the couch to make himself at home. “That one day off helped a lot. That was all I needed.”

“Excellent.” Maverick poured coffee at the kitchen counter, both rooms connected. “Now, what else have you been up to? You haven’t fully been around, today and yesterday aside, and I am a little concerned.”

“Ah…” His heart sank and guilt gnawed at Barnaby. After all, Maverick had helped him become a hero, and now that he made it he wasn’t acting serious about it. “Well, I’ve been doing an investigation, so I’ve been working, just not always in the office.”

“I see. And you’ve been investigating Wild Tiger’s disappearance, correct?”

“Yes sir.”

Maverick turned with their cups of coffee to put in sugar and cream, probably, Barnaby couldn’t see. He stopped paying much attention anyway. “Wild Tiger’s disappearance is important and unnerving,” Maverick said. “However, I need to ask that you don’t obsess over it much, Barnaby. You’re already so focused on your parents’ killer.” Maverick turned back around. “And you became a hero for a reason, right?”

“Sure, but…” Barnaby looked up at him, meeting his gaze. “Won’t finding Wild Tiger put me at the top? If I can bring him home, I’m sure it will look good for me, for Lloyds and for you. Plus, who knows what I might uncover while searching for him!” Boy was he glad Maverick couldn’t read minds.

Maverick set the mugs on the coffee table and sat in an armchair across from Barnaby. “That’s a worry too, what might you uncover? Can you handle it by yourself? It’s not that I doubt your abilities, Barnaby, but if something happened to another hero with the same abilities as yourself, what’s to say it won’t happen to you too? We should really talk to the cops, and if you give me some details I-“

“I’m fine, sir.” Barnaby found his heart beating a little too fast, his whole body warm and the familiar feeling on anxiety making it hard to think about much at all. He really did not want to share Tiger with anyone at that moment, no matter how irrational. There were too many reasons why. He picked up his coffee and blew on it. “I would rather not.”

Maverick studied him, lips set in a firm line. Disapproval. It was all over his face. “Barnaby, you can’t do everything alone. You need to stop acting like you’re alone. You may not want to get chummy with the heroes but you do have to work with them on occasion. You may not like Lloyds that much but you need to listen to what he tells you to do. As for myself, you know you can count on me. You always have.”

That much was true, as Maverick was a friend to the family before his parents were killed. Maverick had always helped him and Barnaby did love him like a parent. He also felt like a boy who had to prove his parent wrong, that he didn’t know everything and if he just gave him a chance he would do it on his own.

Barnaby didn’t like thinking of it that way, but there was something like that boy in him when he took down all his more adult, responsible thoughts and goals. He had his own things to accomplish, and he would never admit it to anyone. He would hold his head high and hide those thoughts. 

“Barnaby?”

He started at Maverick’s voice, having spaced out while staring at the surface of his coffee. “Sorry, I was just thinking.” He cleared his throat and set the coffee down, not feeling up to drinking it. “I know you’ll help me if I need it. I appreciate it, I always have and always will. However, I ask that you give me more time and just trust me to get this sorted out. You absolutely will not regret it.” He shot Maverick a determined look, inwardly begging him not to pursue. 

The guiltier Barnaby felt the more apt he was to give in to Maverick’s ideas. The only two people in the world who could make him feel like that were Maverick and Samantha. 

Maverick sighed and sat back. “I suppose a couple more days couldn’t hurt. And also, to help this go along faster, you don’t need to actually come to work. I hope you know the paperwork is really going to pile up, though, especially if you DO make progress.”

Barnaby chuckled. “I know. And I am quite efficient at it. Thank you sir!”

“You’re welcome Barnaby. Now, why don’t you drink your coffee and stay a while? You look ready to jump out of your seat.”

“I am.” Barnaby stood up, feeling excited while still anxious. “I need to get going.”

“No time to catch up?” Maverick looked sad and Barnaby felt guilty again.  
“Not tonight. But I promise we can talk soon. Right now, I’d like to get home,” he lied. He didn’t want to be at home either.

“Alright, my boy,” Maverick conceded. “Go on home and we’ll talk later then. Don’t push yourself too hard and please, please ask for help if you need it.”

Barnaby’s lips curved into a gentle smile. “Of course. Thank you sir.”

 

Barnaby actually did go home first, he had to so he could retrieve the things he packed. Again on the way he stopped at a store for buns and hot dogs. Then he looked for hats, realizing slowly that no hat would fit Tiger neatly in that form. They would also look ridiculously tiny on his head.

So he got him a green bandana.

Once he was done with his shopping, Barnaby headed for the tower. He took a different route than usual and elected to use his power halfway there, running and jumping in most confusing directions.

He couldn’t say so for sure, but he felt like he was being followed.

It was dark when he reached the tower, but by then he was used to arriving in the night. He could get up the ladder and inside easily enough and even knew where he was once inside. He started to go toward the bedroom, but stopped himself. 

Entering someone’s home so completely without him knowing seemed rude. “Tiger!” he yelled.

He waited, listened, and was not disappointed by the sound of four running legs. He braced himself for an ‘attack’ and it was a good thing that he did because half a second later he was hit and he was down, half landing on Tiger’s arm so he didn’t fall on the hard floor. He found himself in a furry hug, actually, and pushed away in panic. 

“Stop that!”

“No.”

“Stop!”

“Fiiiine.” Tiger carefully withdrew, letting Barnaby stand as he did so. “You were gone for a while.”

It had been about two days, hadn’t it? “Did you think I wasn’t coming back?” Barnaby asked, surprised. “I mean I…I left stuff here.” All replaceable, except for the photo, but the point still stood. 

“Yea. You left your pink bunny.”

Barnaby rolled his eyes. “Let’s get to the room, okay? I actually have something for you.”

“What is it!? Whatisit whatisit whatisit-“

“If you don’t shut up, you’ll never know. Now let’s get going.”

Tiger growled in annoyance, but went quiet for the walk to the bedroom.

The scent that evening was fresh cut grass. Where the hell was Tiger getting such fancy candles? Barnaby decided that was one of the least important things. He set his backpack down and straightened out his bedding. 

Tiger watched him from the doorway, thankfully silent but obviously alert and curious as hell. He was waiting for his gift.

Barnaby paused as he dug through his bag. “Before I go further, Tiger, you still haven’t told me much about what’s going on. Can you tell me plainly if you even know about Ouroboros or not?”

“Ourboboros.” Tiger sighed and narrowed his eyes. “I know of them. They did not make me into this. I’m not the rumored ‘biological weapon’. I am not connected to them.”

Barnaby swallowed thickly. He had kind of known, but it was a disappointment regardless. “Okay.”

“I do know who one member is, because he is responsible for me being trapped here. You see...even though I’m not connected and even though they didn’t do this to me, it was a lucky turn of events for them. …And myself. I think for sure I’d have been killed if this hadn’t happened,” he said, holding up a paw and studying it, looking discontent. 

“…Huh?” Barnaby was thoroughly confused by then. “You’re not a member of Ouroboos, or a friend or a product of them but you are an enemy?”

“Something like that.”

“Why?”

“I know too much.”

“Tell me what you know,” Barnaby said quickly and stood up to approach Tiger.

“In time.”

“Tell me now!” Barnaby demanded, losing patience. That wasn’t good because it often led to him losing control.

“No.”

Barnaby’s arm shot out, and he grabbed Tiger by the scruff on his chest. “TELL ME!”

Tiger raised an eyebrow and looked at Barnaby’s face, then at where his hand grabbed a fistful of fur. He didn’t snarl or try to get away, which surprised Barnaby for about half a second until he remembered Tiger was a large beast who still had Hundred Power.

Okay then.

“I will not tell you, especially with you like this. I need to know that if I tell you, when I tell you, you won’t be too hasty to act on it.”

“Why?” Barnaby asked, keeping his voice down though his body shook with the effort to keep calm. 

“Because I may be a useless old thing but I still have much to lose. My life, and others.”

“Others!?”

“Others.” It was then that Tiger twisted away from him, backing away but regarding Barnaby with worried eyes. “I’m sorry I can’t help you as soon as you want me to.”

“But what-“ Barnaby cut himself off. Maybe Tiger didn’t care about his own life as a casualty, but as Kotetsu he had his daughter, mother, brother, and friends. If they didn’t count as the ‘others’, then Barnaby was wrong. But he was sure he was right.

And that took some of the fight out of him, because as badly as he wanted to know and as he still shook, he couldn’t hurt Tiger that way. Barnaby had never thought that much about hurting another person; he’d never encountered such a situation honestly. Maybe he could hurt someone else, but he couldn’t hurt Tiger. 

And it was clear to him that if Tiger did or said too much he would be hurt somehow, maybe even killed himself. Barnaby wasn’t sure he could handle that even after knowing him only a few days.

“Fine,” he relented. “I want you to tell me, and I fucking hate this, but I….trust that you will tell me in your own time.” He had to.

Tiger eyed him warily and entered the room. “I really am sorry,” he said, walking to the space heater and sitting down. “But it’s not as simple as just telling you.”

“I see.” Barnaby tried to focus on something else, anything else.

“Come here. You’re shaking!”

Barnaby shook his head. Yes, he was still shaking, but he didn’t see what the hell Tiger could do about it. He had to distract himself. “How about I give you what I brought you,” he said, and returned to his backpack.

“Sure…” Tiger blinked.

Barnaby wasted no time in producing the hot dogs and buns, and a couple of forks. He started to say he’d heard he liked hot dogs, but Tiger would know he knew. Barnaby was relieved to have caught himself. “I thought you might like these. You looked like you might,” he said and immediately felt hella stupid.

Tiger stared.

“It’s okay if you don’t, and I actually don’t know if we can put them on the heater or-“

Tiger roared at him loud enough to shut him up and Barnaby stayed standing there, uneasy. What if he’d been fed wrong information? There was no way. As Tiger got up to approach him he wondered if he’d accidentally hit a beserk button, what had he done, how-

“BUNNY YOU’RE THE BEST!” Tiger yelled obnoxiously loud and jumped on him, knocking him on the blankets.

Barnaby lost his grip on the packages and flailed underneath Tiger. “But, but the hot dogs!”

“They’re fine!” Tiger pressed his big nose on Barnaby’s forehead and Barnaby got a whiff of mayo-breath that made him want to vomit. He pushed at Tiger more.

Finally Tiger got off him and went to retrieve the hot dogs. “We’re havin’ HOT DOGS TONIGHT!”

“Yes…” Barnaby adjusted his glasses and stayed where Tiger had knocked him down, trying to get a grip on his thoughts. “Yes we sure are.”

 

A couple of hours and three hot dogs later, Barnaby was done. He was just…done. He rarely ate them himself and he sat there, his stomach threatening to protest since they probably weren’t cooked enough and his system was still shaky. They were good, though, and more than that he enjoyed watched Tiger eat them. It was like Barnaby had reunited him with a long lost pet. Tiger ate them and sang the hot dogs praises and praised Barnaby and by the end of it all, Barnaby was worn out.

Tiger was too. He was on his back, paw on his full stomach. Barnaby wondered if he was feeling okay, because Tiger ate everything he didn’t. Barnaby contemplated asking if he was okay, but stayed quiet. He didn’t want to seem worried. 

He sank down into his bed and nearly hopped out as he realized he hadn’t brushed his teeth. He was too tired and too lazy, so he decided it could go until morning. That meant waking up with hot dog taste he supposed but it would be quickly fixed.

He did miss having a glass of milk every night though, which was his last thought before falling asleep.

His dreams downright attacked him. There were guns, there was fire, and unlike the other day when he slept sick, it was vivid and violent and he felt like he was there. He was watching his parents die, their bodies there like empty vessels and the fire threatening to swallow them. But the shooter, where was he?

Barnaby didn’t think about it as he rushed to his mother’s body first and crumpled to his knees, crying loud and hard and not even thinking the bad guy would overhear him. He touched his mother’s hand which was still warm – or perhaps, it was just warm from the extreme heat. 

He heard more shots and a terrifying roar. He jumped to his feet and with a guilty glance at his parents, he ran after the shots. The next room looked exactly like the living room, except with a bloody Tiger closing his jaws around someone’s head. 

The man’s head turned…somehow…and Barnaby screamed when he saw that it was Maverick. Then both of them fell dead to the floor. Barnaby backed up and screamed more, his hands over his ears, eyes squeezed shut, the floor shaking-

“Hey. HEY!”

“Nooooo,” Barnaby groaned, trying to make the voice stop. He felt like he was leaving that place, but how could he when those that meant anything to him were being killed?

Everything shook again and a voice shouted at him to wake up.

Barnaby’s eyes snapped open and before he could even register Tiger’s face above his or the fact that it had been a nightmare, he started crying hard. He reached up – for real – and covered his eyes with both hands. He couldn’t stop crying, so hard that it was difficult to catch his breath and he was sure if he was actually sitting up he’d have been rocking back and forth like some kind of mentally ill patient. Thank god he was still lying down!

“Lil’s Bunny, what’s wrong?”

Barnaby didn’t want Tiger to see him crying, and even if his voice sounded concerned and gentle, he couldn’t look up at him. “Nightmare, isn’t that fucking obvious?” he snapped, trying to save face somehow even if he sobbed right after saying it.

“Well, yea I guess, but you were really crying and screaming, was it a flashback or something?”

He smelt hot dog breath as he spoke and had to turn his head away. “Sort of. Lots of death, now leave me alone!” He didn’t want comfort. He didn’t like dealing with his own vulnerability if he could help it.

Tiger said nothing and Barnaby hoped he would leave. However, when Tiger did move, he plopped down next to Barnaby instead. Barnaby couldn’t see him, but he could feel the warm, heavy bulk of Tiger’s body pressed against his own and it made him blush, not that he wasn’t red already. 

He turned to see him and lecture him, wiping his eyes. It was still somewhat dark and between the blur of tears and lack of glasses he couldn’t see much. He was able to make out Tiger’s head at least. Tiger was on his side, head on his paws, and it was his back pressed against Barnaby.

…That was acceptable.

Barnaby settled his head down on his pillow and closed his eyes. The steady breathing and warmth from the creature beside him was soothing, and he was soon asleep again.

 

When Barnaby woke up Tiger was still there. He was snoring lightly, out like a light. He probably would be out for a while, going by previous experiences.

Barnaby yawned and immediately cringed because his breath smelled just as bad as he had dreaded the night before. It smelled worse. He needed to get up, fish his toothbrush out of his pile of stuff (which begged to be organized), and find his way to the bathroom. 

However….it was hard to get himself moving when he still had that warmth next to him. It felt better than the other mornings. Tiger was far more effective than a pile of blankets. Barnaby sat up, his eyes on his…friend. There were friends, right? Barnaby didn’t make friends. But maybe they could be and were.

He’d like that. He really would like that and he wanted to berate himself for it for reasons he actually could not understand. He had never brought friends home to Maverick or Samantha, so what would they think? Did it matter?

Tiger huffed in his sleep as Barnaby sat up, but he didn’t wake from his sleep. He just twitched a little and returned to snoring. Barnaby smiled and repressed a little laugh. After thinking about for a few seconds he reached over, scratching carefully behind Tiger’s ear and then stroked his head. If Tiger woke up, he would be so horribly embarrassed.

While he was asleep, it was therapeutic and made him happy.

Tiger’s fur was soft, but not as soft as it could be. Barnaby’s mind traveled to the pet shampoo in his bag. It would be easy enough to sort that out, though he didn’t know if Tiger would be offended by him telling him he needed a bath. He didn’t care that much if he was offended, but too much so and he might refuse to go wash up. 

The thought still amused him, and Barnaby ran his fingers through the long spiky fur that had been hair before. Then Barnaby paused.

What if, when things were normal, when it was all over and Kotetsu was a man again somehow, able to live like he had before – what if he didn’t want to be friends with someone like Barnaby? It would be different when they weren’t cooped up in a tower, and his life wasn’t in danger and he wasn’t a damn beast? The feeling of imprisonment changed a person, and once Kotetsu was free…

He wasn’t that kind of person though, was he? Barnaby didn’t think so. 

He stopped petting him and gave him a good shove. “Wake up, Tiger,” he said gently. He braced himself for Tiger’s defensive, feral reaction.

Instead he made a low sound, groaned, and began to wake up slowly. “Five more minutes.”

“I don’t feel like watching you for five more minutes. Get up.”

“Who says you have to watch me?”

“I just want you to wake up before I go doing anything,” Barnaby muttered, though the truth was partially that he couldn’t get up when Tiger was so…warm and comfortable.

Tiger growled, put his paw on his face, growled again, and finally pulled himself away. “Fine. I’m up.”

 

They both went to the bathroom, which Barnaby found a little strange but as he began to brush his teeth Tiger left the room to continue on. A little more normal, then. He used the toilet and freshened up and realized he was free to join Tiger all day. 

From what he knew, Tiger liked to go outside on the dock, eat food, and do some sort of patrol.

Didn’t seem like a very exciting day ahead of him.

Barnaby tracked him down just where he thought he’d be – that dock. Tiger was laying on it, paws over the edge and just barely missing the surface of the water. 

“I thought this was more of a midday ritual,” Barnaby commented as he walked up next to him and remained standing.

“There’s no specific time,” Tiger answered. “I come out here and think when I need to, no matter when that is, though the nights are getting so cold that I only come out in the daytime.”

Barnaby snickered. “Cold? Even with all that fur?”

“It stings my eyes and nose, and it’s still not pleasant. And sometimes just the memory of how cold these nights can be makes me shiver.”

“Cold, as felt on human skin, you mean?”

Tiger glared up at him but said nothing. 

Barnaby let it go. “So what are we doing today?”

“Aren’t you leaving at some point?” Tiger asked dryly, still watching him.

“No. Not today. I’ve made arrangements – and no, no one knows about you,” he added as Tiger’s eyes widened. “I told Maverick to trust me, and he did. I knew he would.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Tiger said, getting up. 

“Why?”

“He’s your guardian, so you think well of him, but do you ever really see him at work?”

The way he asked it made Barnaby feel nervous. “I have sat in on meetings…and met some of the others involved in HeroTV.”

Tiger’s eyes burned into his own, and yet Barnaby couldn’t look away. “I see.”

“Why? Why would you ask that?” Barnaby asked, anger starting to build in him. How dare Tiger accuse Maverick of- well he wasn’t accusing him of anything, but there was certainly some negativity there and he didn’t like it. 

“Just because of his role in your life doesn’t mean you can totally trust him. I know you want to. But you can’t. …Do you know what people will do to become CEOs? They can be ruthless.”

Was that it? How petty. It was Barnaby’s turn to glare. “I can trust him, now leave it alone.”

“But I-“

“Please.”

Tiger paused and Barnaby fully expected an argument. Instead he just fell silent.

 

At that point Barnaby had wandered back to the bedroom to munch on a granola bar and nurse a headache. He didn’t like Tiger’s comments. How could he think about not trusting Maverick!? Ridiculous. It didn’t make him want to leave, but it didn’t make him happy. 

He sat with his back against the desk, feeling stressed. What if Tiger brought it up again? 

About half an hour later, Tiger appeared in the doorway. 

The two made eye contact and held it for an awkwardly long time before Tiger finally spoke. “Would you like to join me on my patrol?” he asked, and looked away as if ashamed. 

Barnaby felt a little guilty that his first thought was ‘GOOD!’. He rose from his spot and nodded. “Yes.”

Tiger nodded back, and the two began their walk.

Barnaby was surprised that Tiger took them to the ground floor, sought out a big window, and sat right in front of it. Barnaby didn’t sit, confused. Wouldn’t Tiger be seen easily there? It was close to some of the residences. He knew Tiger had to actually see outside to look for trouble, but…but…right there?

He had to believe that the people who lived near there knew he was around and it was no big deal, otherwise he thought Tiger was being very, very stupid. 

“So, uh, how long do you it here and stare?” he asked Tiger.

Tiger shrugged. “Until it feels right to leave.”

“Great,” Barnaby said with a sigh and decided to sit down with Tiger since no action was cropping up outside. No one was really around, just some distant figures down the street. 

“If you get bored, I won’t be offended if you leave.”

“I won’t get bored. I have a lot of patience for this sort of thing.” He was exaggerating a little, probably. 

Tiger snorted. “If you say so.”

Barnaby said nothing, and they stared.

And stared.

And stared some more!

When Barnaby’s leg started cramping and he ran out of opera songs to play over in his head, that’s when Tiger suddenly sprang up. 

“What?” Barnaby asked, alarmed as he got up as well.

Tiger didn’t answer, taking off quickly. Barnaby followed, mind on edge. Tiger plowed through the double doors of an emergency exit and Barnaby was after him, trying to push down worries about that door being accessible. 

It opened into a cramped alley so it wasn’t that much of a concern, he supposed. Tiger climbed a fence at the end of it that was hard to see past the trash. Barnaby still followed, feeling disgusting and not wanting to know what moist thing his arm had just brushed.

They landed in a bigger alley and there was a man dressed in leather, coat and pants, holding another man by the neck. The other man was in casual clothing, t-shirt (even in the cool air) and jeans, and his eyes were black. He was badly beaten from what Barnaby could see.

And that was all he got to see before Tiger took the man in leather down, knocking his head hard against the brick side of a building. There was a brief struggle between the man and Tiger, though Tiger’s bulk made it hard for the guy to move.

Barnaby didn’t feel right just standing there, so he went to the other man who had fallen down. He checked on him, asked him to stay awake, and lit up blue so he could lift him. He tried to be careful, not wanting to injure him more – but he had to get him out of the alley. He glanced at Tiger, saw a flash of metal, and tried not to panic.

He hurried to the end of the alley where it opened onto the street. No one was really around, so he ran until he found someone sweeping in front of a small general store. He could tell he was sort of on the edge of the slums there, so was it really smart to make an appearance?

Well, he had to. He set the man down on the ground when he was seen. As long as someone was there to call emergency, call an ambulance, it was okay. And while he should have stuck around, as soon as he knew the injured man wasn’t alone, he hurried back. He had plenty of time left but he was still worried. 

He arrived to find the ‘criminal’ dragged into the street and groaning, unconscious with his arms tied up. A few feet away, Tiger was catching his breath. He had a large gash in his shoulder.

It scared Barnaby.

It freaked him out, thinking of the dreams he’d had. “Tiger!” he yelled and ran up to him, reaching for that shoulder and pressing his fingers around the wound.

Tiger tried to jerk away. “It’s sore! Don’t touch!”

“But you’re hurt!” Barnaby yelled, flustered. “You’re hurt!”

“I’ve been injured worse. Plus, I’ll heal myself.”

“But- You have to be more careful!” Barnaby fear started to turn to anger, and scolding. “You need to watch out for weapons, I don’t care if you’re a big, furry- a whatever!” His hands were still in Tiger’s fur, unable to look away from the wound. Shit! Why the hell wasn’t Tiger more careful? He just went in there and attacked, did he even have a plan? What if he’d gotten that knife to the heart?

Barnaby felt his head spinning.

Knives, guns, injuries, Barnaby unable to think well when realizing his fingers had edged so close to the cut that the tips were a little bloody. His heart raced and he found it hard to catch his breath. Guns, and fire, what if there was a fire?

“Hey, hey Bunny! Lil’ Bunny, what’s wrong? Hey!” Tiger’s voice sounded far away. “It’s a small injury, I’m fine!” His voice started to fade while sounding urgent. 

Blood.

Such a small cut, and yet Barnaby fainted.


	3. Bathing, Dancing, Warmth

The nightmares came back, as usual. They weren’t as powerful as the night before, but they were scary and unsettling regardless. Barnaby had a constant feeling of warmth and safety which felt unbearably strange with the fear he felt. He didn’t want the warmth to leave.

He woke up to a quiet, coaxing voice and a cool damp cloth on his head. His chest had a weight on it and his eyes shot open. It wouldn’t be the first time he encountered some kind of night terror, but he was sure he was awake for real. He groaned and picked up his head a little. He was surprised his forehead wasn’t pounding. 

There was no pain at all, and it made sense. He’d just passed out, and he hadn’t hit his head. He knew Tiger caught him. 

When his head was lifted far enough, he blinked at the sight of Tiger lying beside him again but with his furry chin resting on Barnaby’s chest. But Tiger was awake, watching Barnaby. He moved his head against his chest to face him a little more directly, and that’s when Barnaby noticed a big furry front leg across his own. 

“Tiger…” Barnaby yawned, and made no move to push him away.

“You fainted. I brought you here. You’ve been out for hours, and I don’t know…what…happened.” Tiger’s question was obvious.

Barnaby felt embarrassed for fainting at a tiny amount of blood. He couldn’t see that wounded shoulder, but if he remembered right, it was nothing to get worked up about. And that was if it was even still there! Tiger could have easily used his power to heal. 

There was no way Barnaby was going to admit he cared for Tiger, a little. Or more. Tiger probably knew, but even if he didn’t, Barnaby wasn’t actually going to say he hated seeing those he cared about hurt. It was again, too vulnerable. 

“I guess I wasn’t feeling well after all. Maybe my cold is still hanging on.” He started to prop himself up on one arm, and realized it felt sticky. He gave it a sour look.

“Oh um, when I brought you back, I think I kind of dropped you a little in the bad fruit area…”

“Oh my God.” Barnaby sat up faster and Tiger lifted his head up, backing off quickly. “Tiger! I – oh God that is so nasty!” He stood up and started to peel off his shirt. “I need a shower! Is there a shower in here!?”

Barnaby’s shirt was off in seconds and it landed at his feet. His chest and back were bare. He felt cold. 

Maybe stripping because he was disgusted wasn’t a great idea. 

“Shouldn’t we have music for this?”

Barnaby shot Tiger a death-glare. Tiger just stared at him blankly. As he stared, Barnaby noticed all the dirt on Tiger’s fur. He had been through the garbage too, after all. He was gross – Barnaby remembered the pet shampoo. He broke eye contact just to rush to his backpack. 

He found it quickly, along with his own travel shampoo and soap. “We each need a shower – like I said, is there one here?”

“No. Why would this place have a shower?” Tiger asked, and Barnaby felt stupid.

“I don’t know. But I need to get clean – and so do you.”

“Well, we can get hot water through the hose,” Tiger said, but he sounded very unsure. “You want me to take a bath?”

“Don’t you keep clean? You don’t seem completely gross.” Barnaby was trying to be nice, but clearly it didn’t come across.

“COMPLETELY? I…ugh. Fine. But you’ll have to help me.”

“….What.”

“I’m gonna assume your version of clean is different than mine, and you’re gonna want to scrub me thoroughly.” He held up his paws. “I got grip, I can handle a lot of things, but if you think I can really scrub into all my fur and everywhere – I can’t reach the entire back of my neck!” He demonstrated and let out a long whine that made Barnaby wince.

He let out a long sigh. It wasn’t so bad, washing Tiger, right? It would be like washing a big dog probably. He’d never done that but whenever he saw videos about it people seemed pretty happy. So maybe he would enjoy himself…

But that wasn’t a big dog in the form of a big tiger. He was a human underneath…

“Just let me grab another pair of green shorts and I’ll be ready!” Tiger started digging in a corner of the room, though what was a pile of…green shorts. Barnaby couldn’t say he was surprised. When he went to his apartment he saw a lot of the same hat…

“So, I’ll bring this pet shampoo-“

“Pet shampoo!?”

“They don’t sell tiger shampoo okay!?” Barnaby took a deep breath. “I’ll bring it and help you wash up, and then I’ll take my own…shower…” With no bathrub or shower stall, how was that supposed to work? The bathroom had a drain. But there was no specific set-up! “How is this going to work?”

“Water and…soap…it’s not that hard!” Tiger exclaimed, leaving the room.

 

Barnaby’s stomach felt uneasy as they stood in the bathroom. He had a little bucket with their things in it and his towel over his shoulder. He didn’t know what the hell they were going to do to dry Tiger off but maybe there was a big fan or something…maybe a big fan locked in one of those rooms…

Sure, because life was just that convenient.

He turned to face Tiger and then yelled, hiding his eyes. “Your shorts are off!”

“So?” Tiger snorted as he approached the sink, turning the handles so they would get water at just the right temperature. “I’m an animal, you’re gonna see whatever you see on a dog or any other animal on me.”

Barnaby’s cheeks burned. “B….but…you’re uh, intelligent.” He refrained from saying he knew he was Kotetsu and being with naked Kotetsu was just a little bit bizarre. 

“Then don’t look, Bunny! Geez.” The hose twitched and began spraying water on the floor. Tiger looked at it, then at Barnaby. “Are you going to shower in your clothes?”

“Uh…”

“Cause even if you shower after me, you probably won’t be dry during this part.”

“I can manage,” Barnaby muttered. He hung his towel over the bathroom stall nearby and peeled the plastic off the top of the pet shampoo bottle. He was ready. Tiger walked toward him on all fours, and he realized without his shorts it wasn’t so bad. He couldn’t notice stuff as much when he walked on all fours. That was good!

“Well?” Tiger looked at him and sat down next to the hose, and picked it up. “Come on then.”

“I will…” Barnaby was trying to decide if he really should take off his clothes and just deal with the humiliation later when he confessed he knew. It wouldn’t be so bad, right? He kind of had to be naked to-

He was hit in the face by strong stream of warm water. Then it hit his chest and legs and he was yelling and flailing and trying his best to get away. He only succeeded in backing into the wall. 

“Tiger!” he yelled. He was soaked from head to toe and Tiger was laughing! He had fallen down, even, and was wiggling around on the floor in a fit of growly giggles. “Tiger you’re an asshole!” he screamed, and rushed forward.

“Woah, hey now, don’t beat the kitty-“

Tiger’s protests were in vain as Barnaby picked up the hose and sprayed Tiger down in a fit of anger. Showed him! Tiger was soaked, thoroughly, and he wasn’t going to dry off anytime soon. Barnaby was shivering and wet but he got back at Tiger somewhat! He grinned without meaning to. 

“Ugh..” Tiger raised a wet paw, looked at it, and then howled when Barnaby sprayed him again after that brief pause. “Hey stop!”

Barnaby stripped off his pants. He still wasn’t going to take off his underwear, but he could change after he bathed. It wasn’t so bad.

He poured an overly generous amount of shampoo into his hand and downright tackled Tiger. 

Tiger went down on his stomach with a light ‘oomph’. He growled but didn’t try to get away as Barnaby half crawled on him, working the shampoo into his brown ‘hair’. He was going to get it done as fast as possible. Or try, that was. As he worked in the shampoo and droplets of water were squeezed from Tiger’s fur, Barnaby saw how brown and dirty it was.

“Damn,” he said softly, allowing himself to rest more against Tiger’s wet furry body. “This is going to be quite the job.” He worked the suds in regardless. 

“Are you gonna make me stay like this?” Tiger asked.

Barnaby didn’t answer right away. He kept washing his neck, picked up the hose, and rinsed the fur off before working more shampoo in. The water was clearing up, but that was only a small section of Tiger’s body. “Maybe,” he finally answered. “All I need to get is your back, right?”

“Yea, I guess.”

Barnaby didn’t say anything, working Tiger’s back section by section. He had to keep rinsing the shampoo out and occasionally hosed himself with the warm water too. Maybe bathing in a building with no heat during the month of October was a bad idea…

Tiger seemed to think so too as Barnaby washed his lower back. “You’re gonna get sick again, Bunny.” 

“Maybe,” Barnaby said, stepping away from Tiger briefly so he could study the next area. What part of Tiger was considered his butt? Did it include right above the hips and tail? He shrugged and decided to scrub there anyway. Tiger didn’t say anything about it. “After this I’ll have some fruit I brought and sit in front of the space heater.”

“But it’s so cold, and I can feel you shivering.”

“Ah…” 

Tiger rolled suddenly, only onto his side. He kicked Barnaby’s legs so he would trip just a little. Barnaby fell but caught himself. Tiger’s paw touched his arm. “Wash my face?”

“Huh?” Barnaby was kneeling by then, his soapy hands finding Tiger’s side and idly scrubbing. 

Tiger looked a little embarrassed. Barnaby wasn’t sure how he could tell, but…he did. “Well I can’t wash it well with these big paws. It’s not like a human face…”

Barnaby sighed and sat back, looking at Tiger. He wasn’t going to scrub his belly, he could maybe do his legs and tail, and then…well, sure. He could do his face. He poured out more shampoo and grabbed one of Tiger’s hind legs, avoiding looking anywhere between them. He was only going to wash the lower parts, by his paws. “Sure, I guess.” 

He kept his hold on his hind paw so Tiger knew not to move yet. He did both his hind legs, then his font paws, eyes traveling to Tiger’s every now and then. Tiger watched his every move though for a few seconds here and there they would meet Barnaby’s gaze. Barnaby would slow down in what he was doing, holding Tiger’s paw and holding the hose over it with the other hand, or grabbing the bottle again, until Tiger would look away. 

Barnaby shivered, mostly due to the cold. “Sit up.”

Tiger picked himself up and groaned, sitting back on his haunches. He looked tired all of the sudden. Barnaby thought a shower and a nap sounded like a good idea. He raised himself up on his knees which hurt by then from being on the hard floor. Just a little longer, though.

He practically cradled Tiger’s face between his hands as he stroked the suds into his fur gently, fingers smoothing the fur with every other brush. Again, Tiger’s eyes met his, and Barnaby found it hard to do anything at all. He massaged around his ears, on his head, even down to right under his chin and on his throat a little, bringing forth a low rumble of a purr as he did so. Barnaby smiled a little. He liked being able to draw out that reaction. 

He didn’t know what he was doing. 

“Okay…” He picked up the hose again. “Close your eyes.” Tiger obliged and Barnaby held the hose over his head so that the water wasn’t spraying him in the face, instead gently washing away the dirt and suds that had clung to his fur.

Then, Barnaby was done. With Tiger, anyway. “There.” He stood up.” All done.”

“Done?” Tiger repeated, sounding zoned out. “Oh, okay. Your turn to be clean.”

Barnaby smiled a little. “Yes. No watching, you need to go dry off. Somehow.”

“Fiiiiine,” Tiger said. He shook and the spray hit Barnaby, not that it affected him when he was already wet. 

Actually, he was a little numb. Had he really said ‘no watching’? What did that mean? Even worse was the way he was sad it was over. He liked washing Tiger. He liked the way his fingers smoothed over Tiger’s fur and he felt every breath when touching his side. He liked the way Tiger spoke softly when he did speak during the whole thing. He liked how comfortable the whole thing was. It wasn’t like Barnaby washed men-turned-tigers every day. 

He stripped his soaked underwear off and shampooed his own hair. He didn’t take as long as usual, not carefully combing it through his hair with his fingers. He just wanted it clean, wanted to turn off the water, and feel warm. He rubbed soap over his entire body twice just because he felt that nasty from the garbage. When he was sure he was so clean it would hurt to scrub more, he turned off the hose. He shuddered from the instant chill that hit him.

Barnaby grabbed his towel, dried off, and then wrapped it around his waist. He hung his soaked garments over the stall and walked back to the room.

When he got there, it was empty. He was disappointed, but it did mean he could drop the towel and quickly redress in his spare, warm clothes, pants and a long sleeved shirt. He even slipped on black socks. Then he sat by the space heater huddled in a thick blanket. 

He was still cold.

Tiger stalked in quite a while later. Barnaby looked up at him, sleepy and shivering from where he still sat. He hadn’t bothered looking for Tiger or doing anything at all since he felt so drained. Besides, he had to think about the emotions rolling through his head. He was coming to realize he didn’t want to leave Tiger, and he wasn’t sure how to handle it. 

Or not handle it.

He wanted to stop going over it in his head. 

“You okay?” Tiger asked, sitting in his own pile of blankets.

“No.” Barnaby finally moved forward to his backpack again.

“What’s wrong?” Tiger asked and started to come forward, but Barnaby held out a hand to stop him. And Tiger stopped, but he frowned. “You’re cold.”

He was, but Barnaby wasn’t focused on it. His fingers closed around the green bandana he had bought, and he got up, walking to Tiger. “I got you this.”

Tiger looked at it, chuckled, and looked up at Barnaby. “What a sweet lil’ Bunny! But how am I s’posed-“

Barnaby kneeled in front of him again, though without pain since his clothing and the blankets cushioned his knees. He reached forward with one arm, around Kotetsu’s upper body and neck. Then he wrapped the other arm around, bandana in hand. He enclosed Tiger in a hug as he tied the bandana at the back of his neck. He was lucky it was big enough.

Once done he lingered to inhale the fresh cleaned fur and feel how soft it was against his cheek. Still damp, but it might be hours before Tiger was completely dry. 

“Hey, Bunny….”

Barnaby let his arms drop and separated himself. “It’s not as big as I hoped, but it fits.”

“It sure does.”

Barnaby looked up at him, away from the green bandana. “Tiger, why didn’t you chase me away? Why did you let me come back here, and why have you been so friendly to me?” he asked. It still confused him.

Tiger’s ear flicked. “You’re a hero.”

“That’s it?”

“No, but that’s why I trusted you enough at first. But you came back and I actually didn’t think you would. Not only that but you came back again when I was worried you wouldn’t.”

“Worried?”

“Well…you have a different…different something about you than the types that usually come in. No one has come after me yet to kill me either, so I know you didn’t tell anyone. I knew I could trust you.”

“A gut feeling?”

“Exactly.” Tiger pressed his nose to Barnaby’s forehead again, and lingered there. “It doesn’t make much sense, I know.”

“You’ve been nothing but nice to me.”

“And?”

Barnaby frowned. “And, I don’t know. I just don’t understand why I guess.”

“I like you, Bunny. That’s why. Of course I’m nice to anyone I like, especially when they’re willing to stay here with me. Not exactly a six star hotel, you know?”

Barnaby nodded. “Yes.”

Tiger finally lifted his head away and fell down on his side so he could get comfy. He still wasn’t wearing pants, but Barnaby supposed that wasn’t a big deal since he didn’t even notice until that second. “Well, good, then let’s sleep. We can talk more tomorrow.”

“Talk?”

“Talk.” Tiger swallowed and rested his head on a pillow. “Because we need to.”

Barnaby felt nervous. He wasn’t really sure what that meant, because at the moment it could indicate several things. It all excited and scared him. He lowered himself onto the bed too, next to Tiger. “Can I sleep here?” It was the best way to get warm, and he just, he just wanted to be there. He wanted more than anything to sleep next to Kotetsu and it was confusing and scary. Tiger was Kotetsu but again, as an animal, it felt more allowed to sleep next to him.

“Are you sure?” He heard the surprise in Tiger’s voice as Barnaby himself practically curled up next to him, facing toward his chest.

“It’s warmer here.”

“Sure, but…”

“I can move…”

“No! No.” Tiger put a big paw over his waist and dragged him closer. “Body heat can only help you warm up, after all. I don’t want you sick again.”

Barnaby managed a slight nod. He was warmer already, even as he squirmed a little under that paw to find the edge of a blanket to drag over his legs. “I don’t want to be sick again either.”

He heard Tiger’s steady breathing and worried he’d fallen asleep super-fast. Thankfully, he heard Tiger’s voice as he rested his nose against Barnaby’s head. “Nighty night Bunny. No more nightmares tonight.”

Barnaby clutched at a blanket under him, just to find a place to rest his arms and feel comfortable. “There won’t be any.” He was pretty sure, anyway. “Good night, Tiger.”

 

Fur tickled his nose when he woke up, his cheek tucked against Tiger’s white chest while he was surrounded by his warm paws and legs. Barnaby blinked himself awake, remembering where he was immediately and not wanting to move. He knew he should want to, having never woken up hugging anyone or anything like that aside from perhaps a plushie from when he was younger. It was unusual and weird. Despite it, he refused to move.

He liked being there. It was cozy, being tucked against Tiger like that. And he knew Tiger cared about him. He didn’t have to, and still…

His eyes fell closed as Tiger shifted slightly, a small growl sounding from his throat. Barnaby wanted to stay there all day no matter how illogical and stupid it was. His right hand gripped the fur around Tiger’s upper foreleg and he just gripped it tighter as his friend stirred.

Tiger let out a soft huff and a startled sound. Barnaby clutched even tighter despite the fact he thought Tiger could possibly freak out like he did the other morning – but even then he corrected himself soon enough! He was safe…

After a long yawn Tiger began to draw away. “Hey Lil’ Bunny, I know you’re awake.”

“You do? I…!” Barnaby was a little annoyed at himself – he could have pretended to still be asleep, and yet he gave him away. “I um, I’m still sleepy.”

“Then sleep,” Tiger said, getting up, and Barnaby wanted to cry at the loss of warmth. “

“No but-“

Tiger dipped his head so that he kind of nuzzled Barnaby’s chest. “You like cuddles? You can admit it. I am quite fluffy. We can sleep like this again tonight.”

“That’s…that’s not…” 

“You don’t have to be embarrassed Bunny.” Tiger paused with his warm breath sneaking through Barnaby’s clothing, as if he could feel it directly on his chest. “I need to start my rounds.”

“But wait, we have to talk,” Barnaby said, raising himself up on his elbow and watching Tiger. “Even you said so.”

Tiger nodded. “Right, and we will. But I need to do my rounds, things are….”

“They are?”

Tiger sighed, blinking tiredly at him. Barnaby notice he didn’t look well rested. “They are a little more serious. I think you were followed here, and also after yesterday, I mean, people were aware of me, but now…”

“My involvement has made things worse for you, huh?” Barnaby asked. 

“Well…”

“You can say it.” Barnaby knew him being there drew attention. And hell, even if no one followed him in relation to Tiger or Kotetsu, he was famous and easily recognized. They could be following him simply because he was Barnaby.

Tiger lowered his head as if in shame. “You have made more heads turn this way. And I sort of – remember when I said only local kids knew about me? I didn’t mean that. All kinds of people have seen me…”

“Oh.” Barnaby stared. “Um okay, go ahead.” He felt numb. He waved at Tiger as if to signal it was okay to go, and Tiger did leave albeit he seemed to force himself. 

He was bringing trouble for Tiger. He should have known! But it wasn’t just him, either. How the hell had he been so gullible in the beginning to think he was the only one who really knew what was in that tower? Pride, probably, and a bizarre sense of entitlement. 

But he also felt that only he had the right to know! And especially at that point! Even if more people were aware than Tiger had let on, for the sake of secrecy, Barnaby was confident no one else actually knew the beast inside. 

So Tiger was still…his. 

Barnaby’s cheeks were red. He sighed and got up to begin his daily preparations, eating a snack, doing his hair, brushing his teeth, all that. He was happy that at least small truths had become apparent, but he was still unsettled.

After a brief search of the tower he was unable to find Tiger, so he went out to get more things. What? He wasn’t trying to move in with Tiger, especially since it was a temporary place until Kotetsu was back, but he did want to be more comfortable.

Sure. The battery powered radio he brought back among other things was just to be comfortable, no other motives.

He’d keep telling himself that. 

Barnaby sat in the bedroom and turned up the music once he was settled down, leaning against the desk and trying to calm the thoughts running through his skull. He was being unproductive, but didn’t really care. He needed to relax and make a plan. He closed his eyes and tried to sort things out enough to think properly.

The nose to the forehead, the action he had grown so fond of, brought him back from his thoughts. “Hi Bunny.”

“Hi.” He opened his eyes slowly. “Where’d you go? I looked around the tower.”

“I went out. I needed to find your little stalker, and I did, and let’s just say he’s going to be an especially loyal house-monkey for the Abersons down the street.”

“Uh…”

“Best I could do for now. The silence getting to you?” he asked, nodding at the radio. 

“Yes. Sort of. I’ve been waiting for you, since we need to talk still.”

“Right.” Tiger cleared his throat. “Can we go to the dock? You can bring your radio.”

“Sure…” Barnaby’s heart seemed to leap into his throat. He knew what they needed to talk about and he hoped everything would come to light, but, he hoped for other things, too. 

 

They settled themselves on the edge of the dock, radio far enough behind them it wouldn’t be knocked in the water. Barnaby drew his coat close as the breeze was cold, but he didn’t complain. He didn’t feel like talking indoors either for some reason. 

“So…” Tiger was laying on his stomach, paws over the edge. “How do we…well what should I tell you?”

“I want to know whatever you’ve learned about Ouroboros, and I want to know who killed my parents. I also want to know about Kotetsu since you told me days ago you were protecting him.”

Tiger’s ears flattened. “Right. Um. Kotetsu, first of all. He wants to come back soon and he misses everyone, he’s been alone and stuff. But, he’s in hiding until I am found, because we’re both sort of keeping each other safe…and when more people know about me and cart me away to a zoo or try to kill me, then he’ll have no choice…”

“I’m confused,” Barnaby said, crossing his arms over himself. He wasn’t really, since he knew it was a long winded way of Tiger avoiding admitting he really was Kotetsu. 

“Yes, yes I know. Well, we both witnessed the same thing, so we both protect each other. Bunny, we know who killed your parents, and it will surprise you. See, the boss of Ouroboros has been fixated on this guy in prison-“

“The shooter!?” Barnaby said, his nails digging against the surface of the dock without really meaning to. He would give himself splinters. 

“Um, well no. See, Kotetsu followed a petty thief right into a meeting. He heard what he wasn’t supposed to, and same with me. We eavesdropped when we shouldn’t have and were pretty quickly discovered. You see, I was running away and before I could get far, one of their number showed up and-“

“What did you overhear?”

Tiger eyed him as he gave an annoyed huff. “That this man in prison was the shooter for the parents of the new upcoming rookie Barnaby Brooks Jr.”

“…Wait, I wasn’t a hero yet?”

Tiger shook his head. “No, in fact, you weren’t. So someone with access to your information knew. Anyway, I know they are going to put a man named Jake in the headlines, as your parents’ murderer, when in fact, the one who shot your parents is in fact the current leader of Ouroboros.”

“The LEADER!?” Barnaby’s jaw dropped. How could – the leader? How could his parents have brought the anger of someone so important down on themselves!? They were famous and smart, and had a lot to offer along with a lot to lose, so maybe it wasn’t rocket science. He was still stunned, though.

“Um, yea.”

“Who is the leader!?” Barnaby had gotten to his feet, shaking with rage. He would kill the leader, he would fuck him up and impale him on-

“I don’t know.” Tiger looked up at him. “I heard enough for them to try to kill me, though, and they still want to. I shouldn’t know this.”

“They would kill you for overhearing, but not getting a name?” Barnaby wasn’t sure he believed that Tiger didn’t know. He had to know, in fact. But all Barnaby could guess was that Tiger was still afraid to share so much due to his life.

It was…frustrating, but he finally had more to go on. At least. And he wanted to run right out and act on it but he needed to be careful.

“Of course they would kill me for that much,” Tiger continued. “Doesn’t seem like they killed your parents for much, right?”

“I have no idea,” Barnaby glared and began to pace on the dock, restless. He needed to get away! 

“Well….anyway, that’s what I know and why I need to hide right now. I know too much. And at this point, I’ve endangered some of the people I protect.” He growled and closed his eyes. “I’ve endangered you, too.”

“I’d be in trouble no matter what, as I am actively searching,” Barnaby informed him, because it was true. 

“I still don’t like it.” His eyes stayed closed. “So what are you doing now?”

“Huh?”

Tiger opened one eye and peered at him. “I told you what I know, so are you going to leave? Are you going to find this Jake…are you going to leave?”

The simple question made Barnaby’s blood boil as he stood there, fists clenched and trying to keep his temper at bay. “There was no reason for you to keep this from me for so long,” he said as he gave Tiger a bit of a death glare. 

“I had to make sure I could tr-“

“Trust me!? Ha!” Barnaby laughed and the sound of it made him feel uncomfortable himself. “Why? If everyone is going to know where you are sooner or later, what does it matter? You’re doing dumb enough things that you’re going to expose yourself whether or not I say anything.”

“That’s true, but-“

“You know what Tiger? Maybe you should leave me alone. You already wasted enough of my time because you were – you were bored or something, I don’t know!” Infuriating! He felt taken advantage of, used for some kind of affection. 

“WASTED it?” Tiger snapped, but failed to follow it up with anything else even though Barnaby knew he could have. 

“Wasted.” The words came out loaded with venom, so so angry at Tiger for the way he had kept Barnaby dangling, used him for his own loneliness and pain, only to give him such vague details and such a sad reason to be doing what he was doing.

He was a talking tiger for fuck’s sake – he could be a big enough attraction to get somewhere safe and put details in the spotlight, but he didn’t. He fucking didn’t. Barnaby couldn’t stand to look at him, so he turned and walked away without wasting his breath on him any further.

The smart thing would have been to leave. So Barnaby started to. He went to the bedroom and started packing up his backpack, cursing out the fact that he’d have to come back and get the rest. Or he could take what was important and not come back again. Ever.

How could Tiger do that? He strung him along for so long, so much build-up, only to be a huge letdown. 

There was no reason to stay there. No reason…

Barnaby was picking up his things and organizing them when he came across the brush he had bought for Tiger. He hadn’t given it to him. He’d given him the bandana, that was enough. And he…

Barnaby’s eyes traveled to the gigantic blanket and pillow nest he’d joined Tiger on the night before. He remembered how it felt to wake up with him, and how he knew he was with Kotetsu, underneath it all. Kotetsu. 

Kotetsu was not a cruel man. He didn’t do very smart things all the time, but he worked to the best of his ability, and he opened up to no one since his wife had died, according to some snippets Barnaby had overheard.

He highly doubted he cuddled with anyone since then either.

Barnaby had never felt like that around anyone else. Would it really be smart to throw it away in a fit of anger? Tiger was just trying to protect himself, and it was possible by then he was protecting Barnaby as well, going by the way he was being brought up by the boss of Ouroboros before his name was out as a hero.

If he went home, and carried on by himself, he would feel horribly lonely. He would feel terrible. He was so used to the fish breath and the fur and the cat smell and all of that. Tiger, he was so used to Tiger and the thought of walking out on him made Barnaby want to have a total meltdown. He felt so connected from the moment he saw his damn eyes glaring at him. 

After a little more pacing Barnaby settled down on Tiger’s bed, sitting upright and rubbing his aching head. He had no idea what to do, but he could not possibly leave. 

When Tiger finally stalked in, walking on two legs and carrying the radio in one paw, Barnaby barely looked up. Barnaby shivered as his body seemed to suddenly recognize that it had grown colder, but he didn’t do much else. 

Tiger set the radio down. It was turned off so as not to waste the batter, though Barnaby kind of wanted music. “Are you done moping on the dock?” he asked, his voice meaner than he meant. He had to hide behind something.

“No, but it began to rain.” 

No wonder his head hurt more and the temperature felt lower than it had been not so long ago. “Oh.”

Tiger looked between him and his backpack. No doubt he saw that Barnaby had begun to gather his stuff together. He didn’t say anything about it, but he did approach Barnaby with slow, deliberate steps. When he was just inches from Barnaby he lowered his head. “Bunny, I’m sorry. I was worried and…” he swallowed, his eyes locked on Barnaby’s. 

“And?”

“Ouroboros is a scary organization…if you just go out and run with what I gave you, you’ll get hurt. And…there’s so much at risk. But I shouldn’t have just…just…I’m sorry. If you want to leave I’ll see what I can do to help you. There’s that cart you brought with the space heater, and…”

Barnaby heard his voice crack. He didn’t know if tigers could cry, even human-like ones. But he didn’t want to see it or hear it. He didn’t think he could stand it if just a crack in the voice made him feel like the worst person on earth.

Tiger was his friend. Tiger was Kotetsu. He was the only one Barnaby wanted to be around. 

Barnaby reached for him and Tiger leaned forward as Barnaby embraced him the way he had the night before. The material of the bandana felt nice on his arm but the fur felt even nicer on his cheek. He curled his arm up and hugged Tiger’s head more directly, tucking himself under his chin and feeling immense relief wash over him. 

He was still mad. There were times Barnaby thought he would never stop being mad, even when he was just alone and frustrated. There was still anger for the way the information was dangled in front of him. 

But walking out on Tiger wouldn’t make him feel any better. Tiger was the only one who could bring him any sort of peace and Barnaby wasn’t going to throw that away. 

 

“It wasn’t tangled that badly,” Tiger commented but he stretched out in front of Barnaby anyway.

Barnaby clutched the brush he had bought, staring and trying to concentrate. Tiger’s short fur wasn’t that bad at all, especially since they cleaned it, but thoughts had plagued him so badly since he got upset that he found himself unable to calm. The most routine tasks and even sleep couldn’t help him escape his thoughts. He forced himself to fish out the brush and approach Tiger. 

Tiger thought it was odd he wanted to brush him, but he shrugged and dropped down in front of the blonde regardless. 

“Your fur isn’t bad at all. I just feel like doing this,” Barnaby told him softly. His mind had traveled to a bit of a comfortably numb spot, where he didn’t mind telling Tiger he was distressed in general, but he also didn’t think much about telling him that, like it didn’t matter.

He hated when he felt like that. It was hard to come back to reality and feel properly.

Tiger turned his head at an uncomfortable looking angle to study him. “You’ve been off since we talked yesterday.”

Barnaby nodded. “Mmm.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

There was nothing new to add. “I expect you know why I was mad.”

“Sure, but…”

When Tiger didn’t add anymore, Barnaby didn’t fill the silence with a response. He began to brush Tiger’s back and a sigh of relief passed through his lips as he did so. That minor action, beginning the brushing, already helped. Watching the way the fur seemed to shine as he dragged the brush over and through it was a good sight, a good feeling. 

“Tiger,” he said after a few minutes of silently brushing. “What do you think of me?” He needed to know, especially after his anger the day before.

“What do I…? I don’t know. What do you mean? I think you’re a nice person, Bunny.”

“Oh.”

“I think you’re smart too, and persistent. Maybe too driven come to think of it, but that is not always a bad thing. You seem like a hard nut to crack.”

“You haven’t cracked me yet.”

“Even if I did I don’t think I could tell,” Tiger replied. He stretched one front leg. “What brings this on?”

“Just trying to decide what to do. You told me enough that I should go back, or persist Kotetsu,. But I don’t really want to go.”

“Lonely outside this tower too, I take it.” 

Barnaby nodded slowly, not sure how much he wanted to confide in Tiger. He wanted to tell him everything when it came down to it, but he couldn’t until he was Kotetsu. “Yes, a bit.”

“Do you have any friends outside of here? Pals? Buddies? …Girlfriend?”

“…No.”

“Do you talk to the other heroes?”

“I do not.”

“They’re nice guys. And girls. You would like them. Er, or so I heard,” he added quickly. “You can’t hope to make friends if you don’t try talking to anyone.”

“I don’t really want to make friends. It’s lonely, but I don’t wish to force bonds for the sake of having them. I like…I like…”

“When it happens naturally, and you learn you just work with someone?”

Barnaby nodded as he brushed the back of Tiger’s neck, smoothing his hand over the fur after brushing through it. “Yes.”

“That still has no chance of happening when you don’t try. And don’t tell me bullshit like you can ‘just tell’.”

With his mouth open, Barnaby blinked, because that was exactly what he had wanted to say. It was true though, he could. “Okay,” he ended up replying rather weakly. Before that afternoon he probably would have argued but in the current state he just couldn’t get the urge up. He felt so drained.

He just wanted to talk to Tiger and soak up his attention.

Having nothing else to add Barnaby just continued. Tiger’s eyes closed and Barnaby was sure he was falling asleep as he worked on him. He felt bad when he had to nudge him so he could roll onto his other side, facing toward Barnaby then.

Then he spoke again. “Um, for the record I could tell too.”

“Huh?” Barnaby began to brush again.

“I mean, I could tell we would mesh well,” Tiger added, eyes closing again.

“Aren’t you going back on what you-“

“I am, I am! I haven’t been able to tell like that in a long time, since I met, uh well, it’s been years. But you showed up and were annoying as hell at first but even then I was like, hey I kinda like this little Bunny.”

“I am NOT a bunny,” Barnaby stressed even though he didn’t care that much. 

“Yes you are. Anyway…”

“Tiger, have you been sad?” Barnaby asked suddenly, without thinking. “I mean, you’ve been trapped here, and you’ve talked before about how you used to be…useful, and you seem bored and, and…”

“…” Tiger opened his eyes to watch Barnaby. “I suppose I have been. This isn’t much of an existence.”

“But what about before now? I know you had a life before this.”

“I did.” He sighed and Barnaby paused as his sides rose and fell slowly. “I wasn’t really wanted in my old life, Bunny. I’d like to return to it and keep trying, and I hope I will since otherwise I’ll always be hiding or…dead.”

“Not wanted? By who?”

“By everyone!” Tiger exclaimed, lifting his head off a pillow. Barnaby paused again. “Everyone, Bunny. I had maybe a friend or two, but I’ve always been a poor friend, poor fa…family member, a lot of that. I’m sure some are wondering where I am, even worried, but I can’t help but wonder if this IS for the best.”

“It’s not!” Barnaby was shocked!

“Won’t know about that until it changes and I want it to, I do, but…life wasn’t going as well as I wanted it to. Okay?”

Barnaby swallowed, thinking about Kotetsu’s decline in popularity and the way he was constantly HeroTV’s punchline, even moreso than Origami. He didn’t like that one bit. “Tiger?”

“What?”

“…I want you to try to return to your old life. And I’ll help. I promise I will.” What he wanted to say was that he wanted and needed him, but how the hell was he supposed to say that? Unless he admitted he knew the truth he would sound dumb – he might despite talking about what he knew. 

“You don’t know that. We might get outta here and you’ll look at me like-“

“Like what? I’m not going to desert you. When I actually do like someone, I won’t abandon them,” he said, cheeks burning.

“So you DO like me,” Tiger chuckled. 

“…Yes.” Barnaby set aside the brush and straightened up. “Why is that funny?”

“It’s not. I just didn’t think you’d actually say it.”

“It’s hard to talk about that sort of thing.”

“Is it?”

Barnaby swallowed and looked away. “I’ve never had to talk to someone about how much I like them, so can we stop maybe?”

“What are you afraid of?” Tiger asked, sounding confused. 

“I…”

“There is nothing wrong with talking about you friendship with someone. It only gets awkward when it starts to escalate to-“ He cut himself off and stared at Barnaby, who was still making a point of looking away. He still knew Tiger was staring. He could feel his gaze on his face, like heat from a fire. “…Bunny?”

Oh god oh dear god. Barnaby wasn’t sure how to escape from that. He couldn’t act as though he didn’t have feelings growing, even if he hadn’t sorted them out yet. And upon trying to sort them out, even super fast, he was even more confused. 

If Tiger turned back into Kotetsu, Barnaby still wanted to touch him, still wanted to cuddle with him in his sleep and wanted to spend all his time with him. Being who he was, and the distance he put between himself and everyone, he knew he would still want it when Kotetsu as a human.

He’d seen photos of him, and for an older man, Kotetsu was pretty attractive. Barnaby had never been able to figure out whether he liked men or women or both or none, but he was starting to figure out he at least liked one soul in particular.

“Bunny?” Tiger repeated, pulling himself up fully into a sitting position. “You’ve gotten quiet.”

“I’m figuring things out,” Barnaby mumbled. 

Tiger nudged his arm gently with his paw. “You don’t have to figure anything out right now,” he said gently.

“I have to,” Barnaby argued. “I actually have to.” How he was staying calm, he wasn’t sure. Unless it was just him, he was sitting there admitting he didn’t know whether or not he had a crush on his friend who as far as he was supposed to know, was a tiger beast. A super intelligent animal.

Aw fuck.

Barnaby pulled his knees to his chest and rested his chin on them, eyes closed. He didn’t feel so good. He felt he should probably get water but he was too mortified by his own thoughts to move. 

Tiger’s nose poked his cheek and nuzzled lightly. “I’ll go do my rounds for a while and let you think. And if you think about it, I would appreciate some hot dogs and we can have, like, dinner.”

“Dinner…” Was that a fucking date? How was Tiger so calm? The hell was happening!?

Tiger rubbed his own cheek against Barnaby’s shoulder. “Mm. Maybe thinking and some food will help you with figuring out whatever it is you want to say. And do. Bunny, where ever your thoughts go, don’t be afraid. It’s just me.”

It would never be ‘JUST’ him, Barnaby knew that. But he didn’t say that. “Okay.” His stomach sank, and he wondered if Tiger was going to walk away to strategize his own refusal, to turn Barnaby down from whatever he might end up saying. 

It was one of those times he wished he’d had a lot of friends in life so he could easier identify what he was feeling at the moment. Affection and possibly love, or just the trust and happiness that came with a solid friendship?

He kind of wanted to cry. He’d have to get some aspirin while he was out. 

Tiger rested himself against him instead of stalking off right away. His weight was a warm and comfortable one. Barnaby leaned into him as well.

…What a fucking mess.

 

Eventually Barnaby and Tiger separated, and Barnaby headed right out of the tower. He was off to get hot dogs. His mind told him Tiger would be whiny if he brought back anything else, but he knew it was because he wanted to please him any way he could.

Hot dogs, wine, and…hey, just how big did the Big n’ Tall store get? He caught some fancy clothing in a store window, which told him he’d strayed from the neighborhood a little too far. That was alright, he didn’t have to be at the tower after all. The worry was mostly being followed and even seen too much.

And seen he was when he walked into that Big store, as a well-dressed man with grey hair and a cane nearly fell over his counter in the process of getting to Barnaby and asking for an autograph. He then proceeded to be VERY helpful as Barnaby selected a black tux with a green tie. He raised a few eyebrows at just how big Barnaby was looking for, but they had it.

Some NEXTs tended to be a little bigger than normal folks even before they activated their powers.

One swipe of the credit card later and Barnaby was walking out carefully holding a bagged outfit that would look amazing on his friend that night. He wanted to think of him as his date, but he didn’t know. He spent a lot of time trying to decide how his parents would see it, as ridiculous as that might seem. If he was telling them about it all, he could just see them exchanging glances and nodding as if they knew something was up. Maybe telling him to be safe, and if he brought Tiger over to play he had to keep the bedroom door open.

Or maybe they’d frown and hand him a gigantic flea collar without another word.

Barnaby arrived at the tower as the darkness began to settle in, and he shivered the last five minutes of his walk. He should have dressed warmer. At least along the way he had stopped for a hot chocolate.

Up the ladder he went, something he’d gotten better at when carrying things. He probably could have tried those double doors by the alley, but the very last thing he wanted to do was crawl through trash and all around filth. 

Tiger was in the bedroom waiting for him, sprawled over the bed. “Hey,” he said, looking up. “You were out a while and – what’s that?” He pointed a shiny claw at the bag, a look on confusion spreading across his features, at least that’s how it looked. 

Barnaby looked at the bag too, swallowed, and looked back at Tiger. “Um, I got you something.”

“Hot dogs?”

He sighed, and tossed that bag forward first. “Yes, I got those, we need to cook them a little better tonight.”

“Did they make you sick last time?” 

“No.” Barnaby walked closer as Tiger sat up and opened up the large packer of hot dogs, licking his lips. 

“Okay…”

Barnaby sighed again and began to unzip the bag housing the tux. “Ummm…well.” He turned red and just showed the clothing to Tiger.

“Well that’s nice, why do you have that?”

Barnaby squeezed his eyes shut and wondered if he wanted to deal with that sort of obliviousness the rest of his life… “This is for you. To wear, tonight.”

“Bunny, I don’t think that will fit, I mean-“

“I went to a special store! It’ll fit! Here.” He held it out and looked away. “Please just try it on, okay?” he asked.

Tiger got up completely and walked over. “Tuxes are…why are you having me dress like this?”

“I just wanted tonight to be special. I realize I don’t have anything fancy myself, but I wanted to see you in, uh, I thought you would look very um, nice in this…” He wanted to say ‘handsome’. Maybe he could at least try saying it. “Handsome, and all that.”

“I…”

“LOOK JUST PUT IT ON!” Barnaby demanded in embarrassment and shoved it hard at him. “Please! Then we can eat and…uh…” He wasn’t sure.

“Dance?”

“What?” Barnaby almost looked directly at him. 

“Dance. Dinner and a dance. How about that, Bunny? And then we can decide what to do after that.”

Barnaby blinked, and then did look at him. That didn’t sound so bad. “I – okay. Sure. But please, just…”

Tiger chuckled. “Okay. I’ll try it on before you explode.”

 

While Tiger changed, Barnaby set the heater up as high as he could and set about cooking the hot dogs on it. He was relieved the outside got as hot as it did, although knowing he rubbed hot dogs all over the heater was a weird bit of information wasn’t sure he was okay with having.

Nerves took over though and he was less able to focus on his minor annoyances concerning the hot dogs. Would Tiger look good in that tux? Would he like it? What would they talk about? Tiger acted like a close friends at times and other times he spoke so casually and wasn’t serious. It sounded like the way one would interact with any passerby! Barnaby had no idea what the beast realty thought of him. 

He soon had a pile of hot dogs ready, only a few in buns for himself. He had some ketchup and mustard too. He had relish, but given the last place Tiger had left it, he wasn’t sure he trusted it. He’d poured two paper cups of wine as well. 

It hurt all over for him to think of that nice wine in paper cups, but he also didn’t want fine long-stem glasses in those big paws. He could already see himself pulling tiny bits of broken glass from Tiger’s toes while he complained.

“I’m ready,” a voice rumbled from outside the room and Barnaby looked up immediately, but he didn’t see anything. Tiger was still in the hallway, then. Was he afraid to come in?

Barnaby straightened his…black shirt and jeans…and stood up. He felt bad then, the guilt of not being dressed up hitting him hard. But he really didn’t have anything! “Tiger? I can’t see you!”

“Do you really want to see this?”

“Yes!”

He heard a long sigh and then Tiger stepped into site in the door way. And while he looked almost comical, he also looked fantastic. The tux made him look so sophisticated. It was a good sight after those ragged green shorts Tiger had countless pairs of. It made his chest look so big and buff and handsome, and the way he looked so unsure of everything he was doing made Tiger so cute that…

That Barnaby finally understood the phrase “so cute he could hardly stand it!”. 

“Woah,” he said, and then held back from smacking himself. What kind of reaction was that!? 

“Is that a good woah or a bad woah?” Tiger took a step back. “I’ll change! I saved the receipt so you can bring it back and go buy yourself some more black shirts or whatever!”

He was about to turn tail and escape when Barnaby yelled to halt him. “Tiger! Stop!”

Tiger hesitated and looked at him. “Um…”

Barnaby pointed at the floor in front of him. “You get over here right now and eat dinner with me!”

“Demanding.”

“Just do it!” Barnaby didn’t want to lose his nerve and he might if Tiger left too fast.

Tiger slowly obeyed, taking those few steps forward before stopping right in front of Barnaby. He looked down at him as if waiting, and Barnaby studied the tux closer up. It really did look great. He found himself reaching forward to smooth the material down his arms, slow and careful touches each time. He straightened the tie, sad he couldn’t re-do it as an excuse to touch. Luckily he remembered almost right away that he got to tie the bandana back on later.

Then he noticed Tiger was looking down at him, chin pressed against the edge of his suit. Barnaby lifted that furry chin with his hand, so that Tiger held himself regally. It didn’t exactly fit his personality, but Barnaby wasn’t complaining.

“You look amazing, Tiger,” he finally told him. He lowered his hands and offered a soft smile, genuinely happy and feeling a little giddy.

“I do?” Tiger’s voice had an air of disbelief to it.

“You do.” Barnaby picked up the big plastic plate of hot dogs. “Here…”

“Oooh!” Tiger gladly took three and stuffed them in his face.

Barnaby blinked. “No no!” he protested, upset. “No don’t just scarf! Use manners!”

“You’re really making me act civilized tonight, huh?”

“I am!”

“….Fine.”

Tiger sat down across from Barnaby on the floor. Barnaby could have used the desk as a table, but he kind of liked the candles being there, providing that soft light and at the moment, the smell of burning leaves. It was the perfect atmosphere, actually.

They talked little as they ate, even though Barnaby wanted to speak. But he didn’t know where to start and any heavy talk should never be done with food in the mouth, so he settled for awkwardly glancing at Tiger until he appeared to notice, and then lecturing him about being messy even if sometimes he was eating carefully and neatly. Never once did Tiger argue, though.

Dinner was over soon. It only took so long for Barnaby to eat his hot dogs, and Tiger was unable to eat totally slowly, and they ended up in nearly the same situation as the other night. Barnaby was afraid of his stomach hurting and passing out, so he served the wine. Totally logical, right?

“What’s this?” Tiger asked as he received the cup. 

“Red wine. Do you like it? I only got us that, I wasn’t sure what else to…”

Tiger took a sip, made a face, and quickly hid it. “Um, yum!”

“You don’t like it.”

“Not really, but I like the tint of alcohol I can actually taste, so…”

Barnaby shrugged. He didn’t mind. He also didn’t know what to do next so they both drank in silence. They were going to dance, but how should he…

“Do you still want to dance?” he asked.

“Of course.” Tiger answered with his voice low, in a tone Barnaby didn’t recognize. He shivered. “You?”

“Yes!”

Tiger drained his cup. “Well, lil’ Bunny, we need music…” He looked pointedly at the radio.

Barnaby understood immediately and stood up to retrieve it. He set it on the desk, feeling odd. Should something major and emotional have happened during the dinner? All they did was eat, and it didn’t take that long, but he wasn’t sure.

He set the radio on the edge of the desk, drawing out the antenna that came with it. He wished he had a CD or something, but it looked like they would have to settle for either one of three religious stations, a soft rock station, or one for children’s music and stories. 

Soft rock, then, and Barnaby set it there. Of course, it was playing a commercial. He shrugged and motioned for Tiger to stand. “Come on. We’ll get ourselves ready.”

“Ready?”

“Figure out who will be leading and all,” Barnaby said, though mostly he just wanted to touch Tiger.

Tiger hauled himself up and straightened without needing help, stepping up to Barnaby. He offered him a cheesy and scary grin thing and bowed his head. “May I have this dance?” he asked, holding out one paw. “Would you honor me with the Bunny Hop?” 

“Don’t ever ask that again.”

“Sorry.”

Barnaby took his hand. “Well, I accept. As soon as music plays…”

He trailed off as Tiger pulled him close against his chest, briefly, other arm around him in a very strong and warm hug. Then Tiger stepped back, still holding his hand and letting that other arm drop down around his waist. 

Barnaby naturally laid his other arm along Tiger’s, hand against his shoulder. They fit so well, in his opinion, and he swallowed.

Yes. Yes, he was finding the companionship he had craved the moment he stepped in that gym and didn’t know what to do with himself. Of course none of the others would measure up. Just looking at the creature in front of him – not that it mattered about him not being a human. In fact, as a beast in hiding, he felt like he was seeing more of genuine Kotetsu. As a mysterious beast he could display whatever personality he wanted because no one knew what else to think, what else to know.

What he showed Barnaby was warmth. And while Barnaby could see his nature was never to reveal himself entirely no matter what…he still could tell he was seeing more than most.

The music began to play.

He wasn’t sure it was actually soft rock unless ‘soft rock’ meant ‘any and all music’, as it sometimes did for those stations, but Barnaby soon found himself being led by Tiger to high voices telling him he needed to show how deep his love was. He turned red and wished it was slower so he could bury his warm face against that soft chest instead of knowing Tiger was staring at him during a Bee Gees song. 

They however did find their pace, drawing close together, then separating as far as their arms would let them, each with a hand clutching the other’s. It wasn’t so bad, not so embarrassing, as the music offered such a pace and feel that he almost felt like they were gliding around that little room with the space heater and wrappers from the hot dogs, the empty cups on the top of the desk.

The song ended and Barnaby would have liked it if it had played anything, ANYTHING other than “A Groovy Kind of Love”.

But he kept on, and realized it offered a better chance to be drawn in close – which Tiger was already doing. 

They stayed close and the next song kept the same pace. Eventually both of Barnaby’s arms were around Tiger’s neck, and Tiger’s surrounded his waist. They swung slowly together to the music and Barnaby wished it would never stop. He had never danced before, like that anyway. He’d learned some dances for when he got famous, but nothing slow and certainly not romantic. He felt drunk even though he hadn’t had that much wine. 

He wasn’t sure how to separate himself from Tiger.

Both of them stayed quiet the entire time and let their movements communicate for them. Would they be kissing if Tiger was Kotetsu? Maybe not…

They stopped when a commercial break loudly interrupted the end of a song. A man screamed loudly about financing some trucks at Hirata Motors in the heart of the city and the mood was over, somewhat.

Barnaby stood back and they regarded each other. He didn’t want the night to end, and he opened his mouth to say so when Tiger spoke first. “Come with me. Bring the wine.” He extended that paw again.

Without hesitation, Barnaby grabbed the wine, took that paw and let himself be pulled along.   
They left the room, went down the hall and went to the stairs. They went up a floor, then another floor, and then another – Barnaby lost track. They got to a point where there were no stairs but a platform high above them.

Tiger activated his powers and jumped. Barnaby followed immediately and they were in a new place, part of the tower where the construction was especially obvious. It was dark and cold, the wind echoed and Barnaby could hear the creaks of rusty old parts of the wall and floor. 

He didn’t look long before Tiger brought him to a ladder.

They climbed up and to the roof, or what served as a roof from a tall building on the lower level. Rather, they found themselves on solid ground outside of a high wall that divided them from the traffic of a bridge going over that part of the city. It leant to the darkness in the land beneath.

Barnaby felt sure they couldn’t be seen. 

Tiger at down and Barnaby sat next to him, a few inches of space between them. He placed down the bottle and two cups he had carefully carried, particularly difficult when it came to that ladder. Once they were set down he looked at the view in front of them.

They could not see the stars. However, where they sat the city looked beautiful. He could see across the water to other buildings directly in front, and if he turned there were lots of colorful lights – the red and blue zany looking lights of the nearby theater, a lit up fast food place, somewhere that had Halloween lights up a biiit early perhaps…

It was nice.

“Do you like it?” Tiger asked, not looking at him.

“I do.”

“Good. Are you cold?”

“I am.”

Tiger reached for him and pulled him closer, leaving that arm over him even as he sat on his haunches…quite a trick in those pants. His body heat was amazing, and Barnaby reached for the wine. He poured them each a cup, and Tiger awkwardly held it with his free paw. 

Barnaby snuggled against Tiger’s side as he drank. “We should stay up here all night.”

“No we shouldn’t. You’ll never get completely warm even with me here.” 

“Well…” Barnaby sipped faster, feeling more mellow than he might have without the wine.

“That doesn’t really mean the night ends.” Tiger took a deep breath. “Do you really want…to be with a creature like me?”

“I-huh?” Barnaby knew they had to talk eventually, but somehow he didn’t expect it. He was nervous and had no idea how to handle it, so he said the next thing without thinking. “But you’re not a beast! You’re a-“ oops.

“I’m?” Tiger answered so calmly, still, but then relented. “Well I guess I’ve made it obvious.”

‘Here it comes’, Barnaby thought. He pressed yet closer.

“I used to be a human, and became like this thanks to a NEXT. He thought he was doing me a favor, but, anyway, I’m not sure how to get back to being a person again. I’d like to.” When Barnaby began to feign surprise, Tiger kept going. “You don’t have to act like its news. You’re smart. I know you know I wasn’t always like this. I was a man.”

“I did. You were-“

“My real name isn’t something I am okay with sharing right yet, I don’t know what you would think of me…”

Barnaby started to tell him he knew, but held back. He felt like it would be a break of trust at that point, to admit he knew. But if they were going to be…well he should know. “If we’re together shouldn’t I…?”

“Are we?”

“Can we?”

Tiger finally directed his gaze at Barnaby. “I’d like that. I mean, I probably haven’t shown it, I’ve been…”

“Trying to keep your distance?”

Tiger nodded. Barnaby felt even more comfortable knowing Tiger had been afraid to get close as well. It was scary, as exciting and wonderful as it was. “I’m sorry, Bunny. I didn’t mean to be confusing,” Tiger muttered. “I’ve liked you since you came back. Not the first time you got here, but when you came back, and when you stayed overnight, and talked to me, even if I haven’t filled you in with enough, I know.”

That was true, and going in with little info, or seemingly so, made Barnaby wonder what that said about him. But he couldn’t fight off the attraction. No matter what he did he knew a red string wound itself around him and Tiger and held them there firmly.

Maybe he was being one of those romantics. 

It didn’t matter, he wanted to take that risk. The hero world felt far away, and even his search for his parents’ murderer failed to destroy him. How could it? He’d found something valuable even if it wasn’t what he ever had in mind. 

“No, no, it’s fine.” Normally he might have slapped him around. Maybe when Kotetsu was a human again Barnaby would give him a firm kick in the ass. Or a slap… “I’ll learn more. Maybe, maybe I can help you become a human again, and you can help me in my search.”

“Of course.”

“And then we’ll...have help,” he finished weakly. He wanted to say they wouldn’t be alone anymore, either of them, but it felt so stupid to say. He leaned up enough to bury his face in the fur on Tiger’s neck. 

Tiger chuckled and turned so he nosed his forehead, and then nose, nuzzling him with a very low, soothing purr. “You’re not alone now, Bunny.”

He knew the words Barnaby wanted to say, which only made Barnaby more certain about their fate.

 

They stayed on the roof a long time, making little talk and mostly cuddling. Barnaby got himself a little too buzzed on wine to even think about more serious conversation, and it was nice to have his anxiety gone so he could just enjoy the moment with his big fluffy critter.

The only way for the night to end was to go back to the bed and cuddle, which is what they did. Tiger carried him down to the bed, leaving the empty bottle on the roof to be blown somewhere into the city. Barnaby voiced some concerns in regards to it hitting someone on the head but Tiger just laughed and shushed him. 

He barely remembered Tiger taking care not to crush him as he dragged him close that night so they could sleep. When he woke up, he was surrounded by fur and could barely breathe from it, not that he minded so much. It was a nice fuzzy kind of feeling. His nightmares and bad memories stayed away as his mind prepared to be flooded with happy events for once.

It was taking some getting used to.

Barnaby rolled away to catch his breath after a few minutes, sighing. He was so happy, yet, he couldn’t fill himself with total joy until Tiger was Kotetsu again. He couldn’t be okay until he was safe, happy, normal, and a hero again.   
That meant they had to get on it, right away, and Barnaby sat straight up. He had to plan, how to start, what should he do? Well, Tiger wouldn’t say he was Kotetsu, so Barnaby had to be careful what information he went on, but if he could find out how he became what he was….he would have to finally go to Maverick.

Yes, Maverick, because he might need some help in researching NEXTs to find the one that changed Kotetsu into Tiger. While people didn’t have to report their powers, there was sort of a database anyway. If word about that got out it could cause Maverick serious problems, but Barnaby wasn’t going to spread it around. He was sure Maverick trusted him, and would help him once Barnaby pointed out it wasn’t for some ordinary man. For a hero? Maverick had to help. 

Tiger snored and Barnaby gazed at him. He wanted him to wake up soon, but he couldn’t help staring and realizing that the beast laying there was his. He was still putting it together in his head – how dumb he must look to Tiger, who thought Barnaby didn’t know who he really was. And Barnaby, while he worried, he just couldn’t care about that. He knew Tiger was beside himself that anyone would have a romantic interest in him at all. He’d said that in some of their mutterings the night before. 

The opinion Tiger seemed to hold was that no one would really ever love him again, and Barnaby was both saddened by that and happy to know he could prove it wrong. There were obstacles to clear and Barnaby was more than willing to do that. He was willing to do so much for Kotetsu. He’d never felt like that before.

“Tiger, wake up,” he said, reaching out and shaking his giant foreleg.

Tiger’s eyes opened quickly and his mouth drew back in an alarmed snarl. He picked his head up and glared at Barnaby. His eyes said he was ready to attack, ready to bite his neck. Barnaby swallowed but stared back. It worked, and after some seconds Tiger’s eyes softened and he looked guilty. “I, um…”

“It’s okay.” Barnaby touched his paw. “…You remember last night, right?” he asked, worry tickling the back of his mind. 

“Yea, course…do you? Wait, dumb question, you wouldn’t be asking if you didn’t.” 

Barnaby laughed and smiled. Tiger was so silly… “Right.”

Tiger chuckled too and nosed Barnaby’s hand, the equivalent of a kiss he supposed. “What now?” he asked, resting his chin on Barnaby’s hand, which was still on his paw. “I mean, now we’re..yanno…but we can’t really…heh well you know…no no it’s okay it’s not like we would right away!” 

Barnaby’s eyes had gone wide as he thought about the implications. Sure, he’d thought about sex a little, with Kotetsu, but since he was kind of an animal he hadn’t given it much thought right off. But to have it brought up…oh, fuck. Sex with Kotetsu. That was going to happen at some point.

It scared and excited him. “Um, we need to hurry up and make you human!” Oh God that made him come across badly. “I mean, because, we do, not because…uh…”

“Uh-huh.” Tiger laughed again. “Well, I’m awake so we should go wash up, eat, and-“

“I’m gonna talk to Maverick today,” Barnaby declared, sitting up. “He can help. We need to back to human as soon as possible.” Tiger’s face fell. He thought. “Um, Tiger?”

“Little Bunny…I’m not sure if it’s okay to do that…it might make it harder for me.”

“…Why?”

“Listen…I can trust you. I’ve known almost since we met that I could trust you. But I can’t trust anyone else.”

“Maverick will-“

“Tell other people. You’ll need help, and he might need to tell others to get help – I don’t know.”

“Um, no.” Barnaby blinked. “Maverick is the CEO. He is at the top. The only person he would need help from for anything is the mayor, but he-“ Oh, the database. Should he tell Tiger? …Of course he should. “Tiger, promise me you won’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you.”

“I can try. I can’t promise before I actually know.”

True enough. Smart response. “Maverick keeps a complete list of NEXTs in the city, their names, their powers, and all that.” He thought he saw Tiger twitch. “I know you said a NEXT did this, so, we find him or her and maybe they can turn you back.”

“Ah, and if it’s a one-way power?”

“I don’t know.” Barnaby just had to hope it wasn’t. “I guess we look for someone with a power to change that.”

“Bunny, what if I can’t change back and I have to stay like this fo-“

“We will figure out something. Power wise, medical wise, we will…”

“Right.”

Barnaby couldn’t afford to think about the possibility of Tiger always being…Tiger. He refused to. He would only accept it as a final option. He was tensed and ready for more questions, but Tiger seemed to realize he had to leave that alone for the time being.

But he wasn’t going to make it all easy. “Bunny, can you go around Maverick in getting this information?” he asked, his tone pleading.

Barnaby looked at his golden eyes, sad and begging him and he didn’t know why. He also shivered as his body finally recognized the cold air in the room; the space heater had been turned off to keep them from overheating while cuddling. “Why?” he asked. If Tiger didn’t trust Maverick….

“I…feel like he…look, we just shouldn’t trust him right now, okay?”

“Tiger!” 

“Please! He might have to take this and make it public, and…well he might have to do other things you and I don’t realize.” His shoulders sagged. “Please, Bunny?”

Barnaby stared at him. “I don’t know.” He stood up pulling his hand away. “I do know, that as much as I would like to spend the morning and entire day with you, I need to get this moving.” That sense of urgency that had him sitting bolt upright moments ago had him getting to his feet. He had to go, had to get going, had to have Kotetsu human so he could touch his skin and feel his lips.

“Please…”

Barnaby groaned. “Fiiiine. I’ll go around him, and it makes me uncomfortable, but I’ll do it, okay?” 

“Thanks, Bunny.”

Barnaby turned to face him, feeling bad for not touching him anymore. Tiger looked up at him and it was strange. He could tell Tiger had placed utter faith and trust in him, and he was feeling the same as Barnaby was at that moment: he couldn’t stand the distance they were going to experience even if only for that day while Barnaby went back to the upper levels of the city. It was hard to do, with such a new and shining bond between them. 

He had to, for them. For Kotetsu. 

Barnaby sighed and leaned down, cupping Tiger’s wild looking face. He hesitated, but kissed his long muzzle, then his forehead. He pressed his cheek against Tiger’s and felt a lump in his chest. He didn’t want to go…

But he’d be back in a few hours. 

He stood back and let go. “I’ll be back, soon. I’ll bring you back something okay? I don’t know what, but…”

Tiger nodded. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

Barnaby nodded too and had to turn and leave quickly. If he didn’t go then, he wouldn’t be able to leave at all.


	4. Identity

If he could have seen Maverick right away, Barnaby would have been happy. However, things weren’t in his favor and when he arrived at Maverick’s office, it was empty. Maverick was in a meeting he imagined, and while he could call him he didn’t really want to interrupt. Getting information was important, helping Kotetsu was at the top of his priorities without a doubt, but he didn’t want to irritate his guardian. He needed him in a good mood.

A good mood…

Barnaby decided to make the best of waiting around and left the building. He contemplated going to talk to Lloyds while he was away from Tiger, but that would only result in a lecture and possibly an order to come back, which he was unwilling to do. 

…He was going to be in a lot of trouble for that, especially after all Maverick had done. He had thought about it before, but with what he wanted to ask, he felt even worse. He was confident that once Kotetsu was back, everyone would be sorry they doubted him, and the way he appeared to blow off work would be forgiven several times over. People would be cheering for him, in fact.

Barnaby had the feeling that he should have been satisfied with that thought, but it all felt sort of empty when he didn’t envision his relationship with Kotetsu as one of the good things that would come from it all. He would probably be made fun of when others realized something as silly as love was one of his major motivations, but that didn’t matter.

To pass the time Barnaby decided to pick out some gifts for Maverick. He liked tea, certain flavors more than others, and Barnaby got him the very best at an expensive herbal shop. Maverick also enjoyed particular wine like Barnaby himself did, so he picked up some of that. There wasn’t much else he could pick up aside from that, and giving Maverick a lot of gifts would be strange. Hopefully the wine and tea would be a nice gesture, to soften any unhappy mood Maverick may have settled into due to his actions.

When he arrived back at the office, Barnaby was pleased to find Maverick there. The door was open but he knocked on it anyway as he entered. “Sir?” he said quietly, and Maverick looked up from the paperwork he was studying at his desk.

“Barnaby!” he said, surprised, and a smile took over his face, though not hiding his tired features. “So good to see you!”

Barnaby smiled, a little more relaxed. “Good to see you too, sir. I brought you some tea you like.” He walked toward the desk.

“Oh?” Maverick raise an eyebrow. “I see you brought wine as well. Did you want to have dinner tonight? You’ve been gone so much, and I must say I would like to talk to you.”

Barnaby felt guilty. “Oh, sorry, I meant them as gifts since I am still doing my investigation.”

Maverick’s smile faltered but didn’t go away. “Still on that, are we?” 

“Yes…”

“I imagine you still won’t tell me more.”

“No…”

Maverick leaned back and sighed as Barnaby set things down on the table in his room. “And I take it, with these gifts you have come to ask a favor.”

More guilt hit Barnaby and he felt terrible. He was so, SO transparent…probably because he didn’t usually behave that way. Of course giving someone, anyone, presents would be very strange. “Well, yes, I need some help.”

“I don’t mind giving you help.” Maverick stood and began to walk around the table. “But you cannot ask for it without telling me more, depending on what it is you need. I do have responsibilities to this city, Barnaby, and it is already making people wonder when you fail to show up on HeroTV day after day.”

“Sorry…” 

“You may feel that whatever you are doing is your personal quest, especially in details about your parents.” Maverick stood in front of him. “But you have a role to play for everyone, and the more you accomplish the more I will be able to help you search. It’s not as easy as making an appearance, becoming popular, and then just running off to do your own thing.”

“I, I know.” Barnaby knew that, he did. He didn’t want to be around people, but he understood business was business, and he had to put himself out there, give more of himself to the public than he would have liked. Being a hero gave him a lot of advantages, and he couldn’t afford to lose that and damage Maverick’s reputation at the same time.

“So, why don’t we talk about what’s really going on?”

Barnaby bristled, but sat down. He wasn’t sure how to answer. He refused to say everything. “I need to look through your database on NEXTs. I am looking for a particular one, to see if the power can be reversed. I need – I need to help someone. I can’t say who, but I promise it will be worth it.”

“Barnaby…”

“Sir, if I can finish this, I will be big news! You won’t be getting complaints; so many people will be happy, but it needs to be secret right now.”

“That’s not very convincing, Barnaby.”

Barnaby felt ready to cry. “I promised him I would keep it a secret.”

“Him?”

Barnaby nodded, trying to grasp details he could give out. “Him. The one I’m trying to help. I’m not supposed to tell anyone about him, even you. He seems worried you’ll do something, I don’t know…but he trusts me. I cannot break that.”

“How do you know you can trust him?” Maverick asked, irritation clear in his voice. 

“I know I can. I know it without a doubt. He has had chances to harm me, to do something terrible to me or others, and yet all he does is help anyone he can. I know he is someone I can trust, no matter what. It’s me who has to prove it,” he said, and felt a pain in his chest knowing that was true. Whatever opinion people had of him, he doubted ‘trustworthy’ was the first thought anyone had. “I can’t let him down.”

“I’ve never seen you like this.”

“I’ve never had a reason to act like this before.”

“There is something going on, here,” Maverick said, voice neutral. “How do you feel about this, I suppose, this person?”

“He’s my friend.” He was certainly downplaying the nature of their relationship, but he wasn’t going to be saying a word on the romantic side of things. “He’s the first person I’ve found I wanted to be friends with.” How awkward. But Maverick had to know how much that meant, since Barnaby never had friends and never spoke of wanting any. 

“Barnaby…”

“Please, I just want to search the database. If I need help from you from that point on and need to tell you everything then, I will. But I need to know what to do next.” His head was pounding, and he almost wanted to panic.

Maverick stared at him, studying him, and Barnaby wasn’t sure what was going through his head. He hoped Maverick would understand. He hoped more than anything. 

“…I will give you the password, and you can access it from your own computer.”

Barnaby breathed a sigh of relief. It meant he had to go to his own apartment since there was no electricity at the tower, and that meant more time away from Tiger. But if he had access to that database, he could deal with it. He could charge his phone too, and take advantage of other things while he was there, like an actual full meal. 

Then it would be back to Tiger’s.

“I’m writing this down, get rid of it somehow when you are done. I will be changing the password,” Maverick said sharply, interrupting his thoughts. Barnaby was a little surprised, but no one was supposed to know the thing existed, so he could understand the precaution. He handed Barnaby the paper.

“Thank you, sir,” Barnaby said as Maverick walked back around his desk.

Maverick pulled open a drawer and next took out a small pill packet. “I’d also like you to take one of these before bed every night.”

Barnaby stared, confused. “Um, what?”

“I’ve been worried about you Barnaby, and you have been acting strange. You seem tired. These will help you sleep, like the medication you have used before.”

“I still have-“

“These are better. They’ll help regulate your mood and thinking.”

“I’m not sure I need them.”

“Barnaby,” Maverick insisted, holding out the pills, “I have seen this before in men your age who are trying to be successful, and I experienced this myself. Trust me, take one before bed tonight, and sleep at your apartment. Give yourself a break.”

“Ah…” 

“You need it. You may resume tomorrow, and if this friend trusts you, he will deal with this.”

“I see…” Well, he was not going to stay home, but Barnaby could at least act like he was going to comply. “I guess I should do that, I have been tired.”

“Yes. And call me in the morning to tell me what you might need next.”

“Alright.” Barnaby pocketed the pills and the paper. “Thank you, sir.”

“You are most welcome, my boy.” Maverick’s smile finally returned, and Barnaby felt better when he left.

 

He went straight home, plugged in his phone, heat up some chicken, and opened his laptop. Barnaby was in a rush but he knew he had to take his time and keep his head grounded, so he allowed himself time to make sure the chicken was thoroughly heated, and he let his phone charge fully. He bathed and changed his clothes, and when most all of that was done, he sat down with his laptop and immediately began to use the program.

It was headache-inducing. The first thing he saw was a list of thousands upon thousands of names. He couldn’t pick out any individually as they seemed to blur together even with his glasses on. There was no way Maverick had collected all that himself, or even with just a few trusted officials. He had to have sources, or something. It was strange to think about.

After playing around a little he managed to learn how to use the search which brought a lot of relief. He could find himself – and Kotetsu – simply by plugging in ‘Hundred Power’. He tried not to notice who else had it. While it could always be valuable information, Barnaby was aware looking at everyone’s information like that was an invasion of privacy, and it felt wrong to do. 

He also didn’t have the time.

Finding the correct search terms didn’t seem like much of a hassle, at first. He knew what to use. However, so many people had similar powers…transformation brought up about forty people, and searching for animal forms brought up very few people, none of them crossing with transformation. He searched oddball terms like ‘magic’ and ‘werebeasts’, which did not help.

Modification brought up a couple of results. Most were minor body mods done by NEXTs, but one in particular stood out.

A NEXT named Finn Moore seemed to have an ability to modify, to change an entire person based on something within them. Maybe it was an emotion, memory, some interest that meant a lot to them, it wasn’t very clear. It also didn’t say anywhere that he could change them back.

Finn had no criminal history, and rather mundane details, but he had been scarce lately. He observed crime of some sort and vanished from the general population, probably to hide himself. His last known address and workplace were listed, but nothing more.

Barnaby sat back in his chair, took off his glasses, and rubbed his eyes. He was sure he found the man. He didn’t see who else it could be! And for Kotetsu, the ‘Wild Tiger’ to become a tiger beast – of course, that’s where the form was pulled from. It made sense! But why it happened, and if it could be fixed still remained. Where Finn even WAS remained a mystery. He had new details and a good lead, but what did he do next?

He told Tiger, that’s what. 

Barnaby put his glasses on and went back to the previous screen. He saw nothing else that fit for what he was looking for. Body mods, memory modification, something about hair – yea, he had what he needed for the night and he wasn’t going to waste time. His mind buzzed with the new details, excited, and anxious. He closed the computer. 

Maverick asked him to stay home, but he couldn’t possibly do that. He would take the pill with him, but he had to go. He didn’t even bother taking anything new to bring with – it was getting late, it was dark, and he had to go. He had to get to Tiger and they had to find Finn.

And so he headed out.

 

The tower was dark when he got there. Not unexpected, but somehow it felt lonely, sad. Barnaby climbed in as he had before, stood in the room, and called Tiger’s name. No one came. No one knocked him over, and with a sigh he set about going to the bedroom. He could find it by himself, but he had expected Tiger to come running. 

He could only guess it was due to them being apart, but that should have made Tiger more excited.

Barnaby entered the bedroom, candles emitting a gentle light as always and that time smelling like…lemonade. Odd choice but it was nice. Tiger was in there too, curled up and asleep on the bed. Oh. 

Maybe he had elected to sleep the day away without Barnaby there. Barnaby hoped that wasn’t true, but he had a feeling it was. 

He approached carefully and touched Tiger’s shoulder, shaking. “Wake up, Tiger, please wake up.”

After a few repetitions, Tiger stirred. He woke slowly, much slower than Barnaby had expected. He turned his large furry head and their eyes met. Tiger’s widened slightly, and then he purred. “Buunnnyyy, you’re back.”

“Of course,” Barnaby said quietly. “I wouldn’t have left.”

“I know that…”

“Did you?”

Tiger’s eyes searched his, and he eventually nodded. “Yes, I knew. I missed you though. Not as nice without you here.” 

Barnaby sighed and leaned down to kiss the top of his head. “What a silly thing you are…”

“I’m not silly.”

Barnaby chuckled, but he couldn’t ignore it. “You really slept all day because you missed me? Is that…healthy?”

“No, probably not, but having you here has made everything bearable, so when you have to leave…”

Oh. It had slipped Barnaby’s mind somehow that being where Tiger was, locked in that tower, of course not having Barnaby there could easily put him in a sleepy kind of depression. Barnaby had missed him terribly, and he had his freedom.

“What did you find?” Tiger asked, starting to get up.

“No, stay….I’ll tell you in the morning.” Barnaby went to his backpack, seeking out a bottle of water he knew he still had in there. 

“Bunny…”

“I did find some stuff, and it’s good, and we can use it. But not until tomorrow, and I’m very tired,” he said honestly. He was. “I just want to lay with you,” he admitted, blushing. 

“Oh…”

Barnaby opened the bottle of water, set it on the desk, and withdrew the packet of pills. He opened it and eyed one as he pulled it out. Round with something on it he couldn’t read. It was eighty mg of….something. He didn’t like taking stuff when he didn’t know what it was.

But he trusted Maverick and he had never led him wrong with past meds. 

“What’s that?” Tiger interrupted as Barnaby began to take it.

“Something to help with my sleep cycle and stress.” Barnaby took it then, followed by a gulp of water. Then he put the cap back on. “Maverick gave them to me.”

“I…see…why?”

Barnaby sort of shrugged before walking to the bed and lowering himself to crawl next to Tiger. “He could see I was stressed.”

“You shouldn’t just take stuff from him.”

“I trust him,” Barnaby said, snuggling next to Tiger and bathing in his warmth. 

“But Bunny, I don’t think he is trying to help….”

Barnaby’s mind felt fuzzy, a little unexpected, but not enough to keep back some anger. “Excuse me?”

“Well, I just get this feeling that-“

“He is my guardian! I trust him!” Barnaby said, feeling dizzy. Why would Tiger say those things? Sure, he had never trusted Maverick, which was a problem, but even though why…

“Ssshhh. We’ll talk about it later,” said Tiger, his deep voice sounding far away.

Barnaby felt too tired to agree, or to argue more, and he let himself be pulled closer. He would have to have a talk with Tiger about it, but, later. He was so tired. He hadn’t felt so tired until he laid down, and once there, he felt wiped out…even thinking made him tired.

He was barely aware of Tiger’s voice in his ear, saying nice things, calming things, words he knew were sweet but couldn’t make out. He was so tired it muddled together. He wanted to know what Tiger was saying to him, he really did.

Instead he passed right out.

 

His body felt heavy, and Barnaby struggled to open his eyes. He wasn’t fully aware of where he was as he twitched and tried to move against the heat and cushion that surrounded him. He was comfortable and his body felt heavy, why was he awake? If he was awake. His mind was foggy, unable to remember where he was. It was almost painful.

There was movement against him and Barnaby reached for it, his fingers tightly grasping familiar thick fur and he had the tiniest bit of clarity as to where he was. “Kotetsu,” he murmured, clinging tighter and trying to move his body closer to the other. “Kotetsu, Kotetsu,” he repeated, the image in his mind not of a tiger but of the human. 

A short burst of happiness and fondness shot through him. It was quickly replaced by fear and sadness, as if Kotetsu was going to slip away and leave him alone, so he tried to tighten his grip. Barnaby found himself unable to cry as he did so often in nightmares. His eyes didn’t obey the desire for tears, he couldn’t make any other sounds if they weren’t Kotetsu’s name. He was scared to lose him though why he was so upset at the moment was a mystery to him. 

His head felt heavier, and Barnaby had some short nonsensical thoughts. Everything ached and he couldn’t stop it. He felt terrible. However, he only had to endure it for a short time before he slipped back into a deep sleep. 

When he actually did wake up his head pounded and he felt ill. Hadn’t he gotten over that damn cold? That was his first thought, before realizing Tiger wasn’t holding him as he did when they fell asleep the night before. He was still there, though, curled around Barnaby as much as his body would allow. 

Barnaby raised his head with a groan an examined his surroundings as if they had changed aside from Tiger’s shift in position. Everything was normal. He took a deep breath and looked at Tiger, blinking as he realized Tiger looked somewhat uncomfortable.

“Tiger?” he said, and cringed at the way he croaked out his name. 

Tiger didn’t answer right away. When he did, he barely moved, his head raised and staring at Bunny. “Are you alright, Bunny?”

Barnaby wasn’t quite sure what to make of the mood that was quickly overtaking, but he decided to just get through it. “I don’t know. I had strange dreams, and I don’t feel so good…”

“Don’t feel good how?”

“Head hurts, I feel tired, sort of mixed up…”

“So I see.”

Barnaby’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Is there a problem?”

“You called me Kotetsu in the middle of the night, over and over.”

Barnaby swallowed. Oh no… “Did I…”

Tiger nodded at him. And then glared. “How long have you known?”

“Not long after we met, it was easy to put together, and you act like him…”

“Ha!” Tiger snorted. “How could you say that? You never knew me as a human. You- you still don’t really know me.” Barnaby could catch the sadness in his voice, and he didn’t really understand why. Besides…Tiger was wrong.

“I read about you, I talked to Rock Bison…I spent time with you and I know the things I read were true.”

“That doesn’t mean you KNOW me,” Tiger practically hissed. “Maybe I made a mistake.”

He was too tired for this. Barnaby wiped his eyes, glad Tiger wasn’t too far away without his glasses on. “Mistake?”

“You hid that you know who I am. You should have told me. You didn’t. You drew closer to me…but never told me.”

Barnaby’s jaw had dropped. He didn’t tell him for good reason! Why did it matter? Tiger knew about his life, and he was the only one other than Maverick and Samantha to know of the nightmares. He had seen Barnaby vulnerable. He had to know how much trust Barnaby put in him!

But he couldn’t tell him he knew, because if he did…if he did…

He felt sick realizing that telling Tiger at some point prior probably wouldn’t have been that bad. Sure, Tiger had wanted to hide it, but if Barnaby had just said he knew who he was and intended to help him regardless, it may have saved a lot of trouble. 

However, all that aside, he couldn’t understand why Tiger was so pissed in that moment. Barnaby had shown he liked him and wanted to be with him. He wasn’t going anywhere, and would help him. 

“You shouldn’t lie to anyone you love,” Tiger said, growling. 

Barnaby just stared and digested those words. From what he had learned, Kotetsu wasn’t always straight with people…and in all fairness…Barnaby pointed at him. “You didn’t tell me who you were!”

“That’s…uh…” Tiger glared but not as harshly. “That’s different!”

“No, no it’s not, you know why? You knew who I was, I knew who you were. But you wouldn’t actually tell me who you are.” That made it more twisted, actually. “This means, this means you’re with me, and not even telling me who you are!” When he thought more about it, that was downright creepy! Somehow he hadn’t been able to see that, through his own knowledge of Tiger’s identity – and his emotions. Barnaby was so taken by him, so overwhelmed by the strange, fantasy-like world he felt thrust into that his common sense flew right out the window and he had been too goddamn stupid to notice it. 

“Different! I had to protect myself until I knew I could trust you!”

“And when was that, Tiger?” He used the nickname on purpose. “I should ask, when will that be? Because we’ve spent time together, we’ve been…close, and apparently that wasn’t enough for you to volunteer it! So did that mean anything?” he asked, and nearly choked on the words. He wasn’t sure he could handle it if Tiger was playing him for a fool. He’d never been close to anyone like that, he hadn’t, and if Tiger said he actually didn’t like him that much, he-

“I was scared.”

“Huh?”

Tiger still looked pissed, but his voice relaxed a little. “You…are right. What I did was far more heinous.” He spat the words out, forced them out. “I didn’t want you to leave. So if I did tell you, cute Lil’ Bunny, that I’m the washed up old hero Wild Tiger, Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, I thought I would find myself alone within seconds of telling you.”

“Why?” Barnaby asked, struggling to understand why Tiger thought he would abandon him if he told him the truth. 

“Why? Well, uh…” Tiger didn’t have an answer either.

It sort of clicked. Barnaby hadn’t really realized the low opinion Tiger held of himself and his importance. He talked about how he ‘used to be useful’ and such things, and Barnaby attributed it simply to being in the form of an animal as opposed to the human he had been. Tiger had spoken of being depressed in his human life, but it still hadn’t entirely hit Barnaby. Even though Tiger had been blatant about feeling useless and Barnaby felt sad for him, Barnaby hadn’t fully understood.

The anger didn’t go away, but it wasn’t as strong. 

“Okay, Ti-okay, Kotetsu.” He took a deep breath. “So you think I don’t know you.” Barnaby stretched his legs out on the nest, getting into a comfortable sitting position. “Well, I’m listening now.”

“Eh?”

Barnaby knew he was going to have to prompt him, get some questions going to help Kotetsu start. “You thought I would leave?”

“Yes.”

“And why? Don’t give me the short list, give me…details.”

“Ah…”

“Don’t feel embarrassed,” Barnaby said softly, knowing it had to be hard for the older hero to open up to someone he obviously desperately wanted to stay. Barnaby was feeling a little less mad, at least, and talking would help. 

“I’m not….good enough for you.”

“…Huh?”

“You’re so…” His description involved a groan. “And me…well look at me!” He pointed at himself. 

“So? You could look a lot worse. Besides, I know what the real you looks like.”

Kotetsu looked from side to side as if trying to find an escape. “But…I’m not really that young. I got wrinkles around my eyes,” he said, pointing at his eyes as if they would show up. “And you’re gorgeous, you could do better than me, human or beast.”

“If you think so low of me to think I would judge on looks, maybe I should go,” Barnaby huffed but he didn’t take offense. Kotetsu was having a bit of a rough time, after all. “But I don’t, can’t you tell?” Did he have to spell out that he’d been snuggling up to him all that time, fur and all? Hell, he loved how warm and soft it was even if he preferred him human for intimacy, among other things. 

He’d seen some pictures of Kotetsu shirtless, and if that guy didn’t think he was good looking…the moment he was human again Barnaby would be pushing him to a bed and teaching him otherwise. 

Kotetsu was staring at him and looking confused, and Barnaby realized he started into his own little mini fantasy. “Ah, sorry, you see I’ve seen pictures of you and…they certainly play into the attraction.”

“…Oh.” Kotetsu shuffled, looking unsure. “Really?”

“Yes.”

“…Oh.”

Barnaby sighed and rolled his eyes, because they were getting absolutely nowhere and it was irritating. “Okay, moving on. There has to be more to why you think you aren’t ‘good enough’.”

“Well…” Tiger hesitated. “I’m…I’m not really earning any points anymore, and I break a lot of things. Everyone gets on me for not thinking. And, I’m kind of…not good at keeping up with my kid,” he said with a wince.

Barnaby had to admit that was a little problematic. If his father was alive he would have, well…nevermind. However the circumstances as they were made it understandable, and maybe he could help Kotetsu do a better job. “So you make mistakes. I care about that, but maybe I can help.”

“Why would you want to spend the time doing that?”

“Because you’re a good person,” Barnaby answered honestly. “In what I have read and watched, it’s clear you want to help people. Even here! You know it’s dangerous, but you protect the people who live down here, like a guardian. That…that says a lot to me.” It said that Kotetsu was a person he wanted to know and have in his life. 

“I fuck up.”

“Maybe. Doesn’t make you bad. And while it’s likely to give me a headache, I feel like…”

“Yes?”

“Feel like I would be stupid to throw you away and not take a chance because you have high damage fines.” Sure, it would have to change, but for the time being Barnaby was going to bring him out of that feeling of low self-worth, or at least try his hardest. 

“I don’t…I just don’t know why…”

“You make me feel good.”

Tiger studied him, looking skeptical. “But Bunny, I’m sure others could make you feel good, I’m sure they try.”

“I had a fanclub at the academy,” Barnaby said, tone flat. “I guess I was flattered, but they just wanted my attention and wanted me to like them because I was popular and good looking.” He didn’t mean to brag. He was just stating facts. “You wanted me to get the hell out of here at first.”

“Sort of. I mean, I did want company, I just…”

“Point is, you didn’t accept me right away.”

“Mmm…”

“You didn’t push me away either, you let me stay, and you became friends with me.”

Kotetsu shrugged. “Because you let me.”

“I did, on purpose, because at first I just wanted information.”

“I knew that…”

“You did, and you still spent time with me and started to get to know me, and…comforted me.” Barnaby focused on his own fingers, blushing. “Who wouldn’t, right? But, well, you still didn’t have to. Besides, I felt drawn to you.”

Kotetsu sighed. “That’s all a little jumbled.”

It was. And he didn’t know how to make it clear. “The important part is that I care about you, and I don’t want to leave you – I WON’T.” He shook his head. “I won’t, I won’t. There has to be meaning in the way I feel like I can’t…be…without you.” He felt a little light-headed in saying that. 

“I guess falling for someone doesn’t always make a lot of sense, huh?” Kotetsu asked, and he did chuckle just a little. “If we both can’t shake thoughts of each other, that has to mean something, huh?”

“Right.” Barnaby smiled. He was no longer feeling mad, even though he thought he should be. He felt happy. Things were out in the open, and he’d gotten a chance to talk to Kotetsu. “I don’t like other people. I really don’t. But I refuse to be apart from you.” He’d put up a hell of a fight, too. 

That meant, whatever they did next, they were doing it. No leaving for the day to search, none of that junk. He had what he needed, and other people be DAMNED, he was going to take Kotetsu where ever he needed.

He was fucking Barnaby Brooks Jr. and as concerned as he was for Kotetsu’s well-being, he was a hero and a popular guy already and they’d be asking him questions before they’d be trying to mess with his big scary kitty. 

Hopefully.

He beckoned for Kotetsu. “Come here.”

“…You sure?”

“Yes, just come here before I get pissed off again!”

Kotetsu slowly moved forward, approaching Barnaby carefully. He lowered his head so Barnaby could touch if he wanted, and that’s what Barnaby did. He had one hand on the side of Kotetsu’s face as he gazed into his eyes, his still human eyes. “Bunny?” Kotetsu asked, quietly.

“We’re okay,” Barnaby said. “I don’t know…if I should be angrier. Never really been in this situation.”

Kotetsu rubbed his nose on Barnaby’s head. “Right.”

“So, we’ll just…move forward. We’re close to fixing this, I found some things out, and soon you’ll be a human and-“

“And I’ll be able to hold you properly,” Kotetsu said, dropped down next to him and inviting Barnaby to roll closer.

Barnaby giggled like an idiot but caught himself. However, mid-roll, he remembered something that miiight be an issue. “So, Kotetsu, there is one thing I need to talk to you about now.”

“Yes?” Kotetsu asked, sounding disinterested. 

“Well, Maverick is my guardian, he’s like a father, and when we bring him up you…well, you do that.”

Kotetsu had stiffened completely, uncomfortable and unhappy. “Uuuuuuuh.”

“Kotetsu, it’s okay, just tell me.” Barnaby rubbed his furry hand. “We’ll sort it out.”

“This cannot be sorted out.”

“Kotetsu?”

“There’s something very bad you don’t know about Maverick.”

Barnaby’s pulse quickened and he swallowed. He was actually scared of what Kotetsu had to say, and how he could react. It sounded bad. Really bad. But Maverick was his guardian, how bad could it be?

“Maverick is the boss of Ouroboros.” 

It was worse than he ever could have dreamed. 

 

Barnaby huddled against the cold wall, the blankets at his feet after he had kicked them off. His mind was reeling and he felt even sicker than when he had woken up. His emotions were all over the place, but when he finally harnessed his focus, he looked up at Kotetsu.

Kotetsu was by the desk, rubbing a sore spot on the side of his face where Barnaby had slugged him, an unfortunate and immediate reaction to what he had said. Barnaby regretted it and apologized right away, but Kotetsu only shushed him and moved away. 

It didn’t seem like Kotetsu was mad. He was quiet and he watched Barnaby, but the look in his eyes didn’t say he was angry or sad. Barnaby wondered if he had maybe expected the reaction. That made him feel strange, did he really come off as that unstable and violent?

Ten minutes after the hit Barnaby knew he better talk. Kotetsu had begun to look away as if finally reaching a state of discomfort, and he didn’t like that. “I’m sorry,” Barnaby mumbled. 

“It’s alright,” Kotetsu responded slowly. “I knew you wouldn’t take it well.”

“Did you…” 

“Well…he seems to be the only other person you’re even somewhat close to,” Kotestu said, offering a shrug that seemed all too casual. 

Barnaby started to stand up. He was furious – with himself. How could he react in such a way? Why couldn’t he have done something else, run away, jumped through the roof, anything? Instead he had to hurt the very last person he wanted to. “I’m so sorry. You said it’s alright. It’s not.” His legs were shaky. 

“Okay, it’s not okay to do, but I’m not mad. A little sore, but not mad at you.”

“If you had hit me, I wouldn’t be as forgiving.” Barnaby sighed and took a few steps forward. He had to concentrate to do so, and his vision without his glasses was terrible. Everything hurt. 

Kotetsu said nothing, probably because he would never react that way out of anger and surprise. Barnaby approached him and stopped. He wanted to hug him or something, but he wasn’t worthy. He was confused. He was hurt. 

A tiny, tiny part of him wondered if it was true. Kotetsu might not give straight answers, but would he make something so horrible up out of nowhere? Barnaby strongly doubted it. However, it prompted him to ask. 

“How do you know this?”

“I saw him in action. …In a meeting with the goons, I mean, Maverick doesn’t do much action-wise. I was following someone else after they threatened a guy…I thought it was gonna get bad. It didn’t but I wanted to make sure he didn’t hurt someone else.” Kotetsu swallowed. “I didn’t realize what I was getting into.”

“So you found him at a meeting.” The meeting that he had mentioned days ago when he acted as if he and Kotetsu were separate beings, no doubt.

Kotetsu nodded. “Uh-huh. I was able to hide and watch for a little while.”

“It was clear that it was a crime syndicate?”

“Yes.”

“Clearly Ouroboros?”

“I recognize that symbol well by now.”

Barnaby nodded and looked at the floor. “You’re sure he didn’t think he was meeting with-with someone else? Maybe it wasn’t what it seemed?”

“Bunny, they were clearly laying out plans for something pretty terrible.”

“Oh?” Barnaby glared, still looking at the floor. “If they were so terrible you can tell me what they were, right?”

“Uh-huh. A couple of bombings with that man in custody that they were all too pleased to set up. They didn’t seem bothered about the loss of lives.”

“But Maverick wouldn’t-“

“I don’t know what he would or wouldn’t do, and to be fair he wasn’t cheering them on or getting excited about those who would be hurt. But he was pretty unconcerned. Seemed more fixated on TV ratings.”

That would make sense, being that Maverick was HeroTV’s CEO. But usually it was Agnes who would lose her mind over ratings, not Maverick of all people. “But that’s Agnes’s thing.”

“It sure is. Doesn’t mean Maverick doesn’t care. This is his livelihood, you know.” Kotetsu let out a sigh. “He loves it when we show up at the scenes he often sets, get attention, make the show better and make him more powerful. Except, all I ever do is screw up. Even if I save someone, I’ve still done something wrong.”

“Kotetsu…”

“When they saw me, and when he saw me, there was a bit of a hesitation. Just a little one. But Maverick realized that getting rid of me…he couldn’t lose. There would be no one to tell the truth and there would be no failing hero. He already had someone ready to replace me…”

Realization dawned on Barnaby and he felt his knees go weak. Kotetsu stood up and closed the small distance between them, standing against Barnaby. He kept him from falling. Barnaby had to set a hand on his back and grab his fur.

He was Kotetsu’s replacement. 

He should have known that! He may have thought about it briefly, but never actually put any stock in it. Knowing it for sure crushed him. 

“Breathe,” Kotetsu’s voice ordered and Barnaby noticed he had kind of stopped doing that and felt like he was about to faint. Passing out held a certain appeal to get rid of everything that was happening around him, if only for a minute.

“How did you…how did…”

“How did I get away?” Kotetsu carefully backed out of Barnaby’s grip, only to rise up on two legs where he towered over Barnaby. He put one large arm around him, holding him close and firm. Even if he fainted he would not fall. 

“Yea…”

“I became this. I ran and ran, and kind of…crashed into someone. He was mad, I tried to apologize and said I was escaping, and he did some weird gestures. Uh, it was a hell of a blur and I think he knocked me out. I woke up like this with a lot of guns aimed at me.”

“Ouroboros?”

“No. Police. …And Maverick, so I guess technically…”

“And what happened?”

Kotetsu nuzzled his blonde hair. “I was scared, thought I was still me, and activated without a thought. I got the hell outta there in seconds, they shot but didn’t get me. I was scaring some poor woman in a park to death when I realized I wasn’t human anymore.”

“It took you that long?”

“It felt sort of natural, okay!? …Anyway, I panicked and looked for anywhere I could hide. I was seen a couple of times, verbally warned I better keep my mouth shut, and once I was here and not moving, everything stopped. If I stay quiet, I’m okay. If I don’t come back, I live.”

“So…if I take you out of here to help, I might get you killed.”

“It doesn’t matter. This is no life. If you take me out of here, you’re going to save me either way.”

Barnaby fully disagreed with that. If Tiger was killed that wouldn’t save him from anything, especially since he felt he finally made him happy. “Kotetsu, what are we going to do?” he asked, feeling helpless and hating it.

“What did you figure out last night?” 

“Oh…” That might help. “I think I found the NEXT who transformed you.”

Kotetsu stopped nuzzling his hair and picked his head up, probably staring at the wall. “You should have told me that sooner!”

“Things came up!”

“Even so!”

Barnaby put his arm on Kotetsu’s and stepped back just a few inches so he could try to glimpse his face. He could see his nose and the sides of his face. “I’m telling you now. His name is Finn…Finn something or other. Moore, I think. But anyway! I have his last known address and I remember what he looks like…do you remember where you ran into him?”

“You have his name!? Tell me more!” Kotetsu jumped back then, looking excited as he took Barnaby’s hand in one big paw. 

“I do. And I know he can change you based on something…inside.”

“What you mean like what I had for lunch that day? I had a lot of eggs so I should have been a chicken.” 

Barnaby rubbed his sore head while his hurting stomach turned even more at the mere thought of eggs. “No, no, I think it’s more…psychological,” he said even though he couldn’t explain it. “You’re Wild Tiger, so he turned you into a tiger. But…he couldn’t erase the human part of you.”

“Er…”

“I don’t know what that means exactly, I’m just trying to figure things out.”

“I…see.” Kotetsu gently squeezed his hand. “But still, what do we do with this?” 

“Find him.”

“Say, Bunny….” Kotetsu had a thoughtful look on his face, and Barnaby wasn’t sure he felt good about it. “If we don’t find this guy, did you see anyone else who could change a person to an animal? Maybe they can change me back.”

“I didn’t find anyone else who could do that.” Barnaby felt awful saying that, but Finn was the only person who fit and he wasn’t fully certain even then. If he found him and Kotetsu recognized him, he would know, but until then it was all still up in the air. 

“That…sucks.” Kotetsu let go of his hands but didn’t leave. “…So what’s the plan?”

“I didn’t have one.”

“Should we go to his last known address?” 

“WE?”

“I am assuming I’m coming with you, still, even if it’s risky.”

Barnaby glared. “It’s very risky! Kotetsu, you can’t come! I will not have you hurt! I’ll bring him here!” Yea, he’d just decided minutes before that they would stay together and hope no one messed with them, but thinking more seriously…

“And how will you do that?”

“Hundred Power!”

“Before he changes YOU too?”

Barnaby opened his mouth but froze. Oh yea. He had totally forgotten that he could be affected, too. It wasn’t that he was arrogant – he just wasn’t thinking at all. He couldn’t think clearly, when so much had happened since waking up. 

“I need to sit down.”

Kotetsu nodded and let him sit back on the blankets. He said he was going to go get water, hesitated, and then left. Barnaby knew why he did, he was giving Barnaby some space to think and rest. Barnaby would have preferred his warmth but he couldn’t just cling to Kotetsu either. 

So, as things were, Kotetsu knew Barnaby knew his identity. He no longer had to hide that. That would have calmed him down a lot – and it kind of did if only for a few minutes – were it not for the information on Maverick. Could it have been a lie? Maybe.

Actually, no. Barnaby wanted to kick himself. Kotetsu wouldn’t lie to him at that point, he’d already decided that. He didn’t need to backtrack and find worries he had gotten rid of. His mind was in so much turmoil though, and he didn’t know what to do.

He still hated the idea of taking Kotetsu with him to find Finn, but what could he do? Kotetsu was going to come along no matter what. They’d just have to watch out for each other and hope that Kotetsu could be turned human again. That was the first order of business.

All his focus was going to go into that, because he wasn’t sure he could handle dealing with Maverick at that moment. It was too much. 

Barnaby had to lay back down again. He closed his eyes, tired. He couldn’t do anything while he felt sick from anxiety. Why did it all have to be so difficult?

And yet, he couldn’t help but feel that if he was to find romance, fall for anyone, and spend precious time on them, there had to be some fight, some challenge involved. He had thought the challenge was getting Kotetsu to let down his guard but it had become another game entirely. It scared him and he didn’t want Kotetsu to have to go through it.

Yet, it made sense to him. 

When Kotetsu returned, Barnaby pulled himself up. He helped himself to his own bottled water and the two spoke little as they readied themselves for the day. Barnaby insisted on brushing Kotetsu down so he looked a little less scary, even the tiniest bit.

Anything to prevent possible violent reactions…

Not that it would make a difference.

Finally, they stood on the platform that led to the ladder to the fire escape. The way out, instead of going through that alley. Their plan? It was simply to search, and if something happened, they’d deal with it along the way. Barnaby was ready to put his life on the line for Kotetsu, and he was completely on guard. Kotetsu tried to calm him, but he was just too worked up.

He had to be tense. He had to be ready to spring.

“Ready?” Barnaby asked him, staring at the ladder.

“No,” Kotetsu chuckled. “But it doesn’t matter. This has to be done.”

“You really don’t have to come with m-“

“I do. I am sticking by you as long as you stick by me.”

Kotetsu really was so naïve and stupid sometimes…

But as scared as he was for Kotetsu’s safety, Barnaby was still happy to have him at his side. 

 

There were people watching as Barnaby and Kotetsu left the tower. Some were interested, others not so much. Kotetsu’s presence wasn’t that secret anymore, and while some residents looked on him with wonder, he was old news to some. Barnaby wasn’t sure how anyone could ever be disinterested in him even if they knew about him, but perhaps it was better that way. 

He didn’t expect some of the gawkers to wish them good luck, but they did. They couldn’t possibly know why they were wishing it, because Barnaby was certain none of them knew who Kotetsu actually was. Still – he appreciated it. They were going to need it.

And they needed it right away.

The slums were still a part of the city so while there were some desolate areas along the street, there were always people. As the housing began to increase in quality and more sunlight found them, so did quite a few pairs of eyes. 

Barnaby saw people whispering, pointing, a couple of them even screamed and ran into their buildings. A man at a corner market immediately took out his phone. Barnaby walked close to Kotetsu who traveled on all fours with awkward steps. He placed a hand on his furry side as if to show he was safe, no one hurt him, please…

People shouted at both of them. He had to ignore it. There were gradually more people, more cars, and a bit of a crowd following behind them. “He’s safe! It’s okay! He won’t harm you!” Barnaby found himself yelling a few times especially as he felt Kotetsu tense under him. He wasn’t sure if anyone around him had guns. He just had to keep going.

They needed to find where Finn had lived before. It didn’t really hurt if they found the other heroes or law enforcement along the way to help them search but the goal was to go directly to where they knew. Barnaby did not have high hopes that he would be there, but maybe he could find something from there.

Or, the publicity could draw out someone else to help him. 

They were still in a somewhat lower class area of the city when he heard sirens for the first time. Barnaby felt nervous and he grabbed Kotetsu’s fur just a little too hard. He made sure he was easily seen next to him so the officer wouldn’t just see an animal and, possibly, shoot. 

The cop car slowed down in front of them and an officer stepped out of the driver’s side. He stepped out slowly and looked at Kotetsu, his mouth hanging open. His hand immediately started to drift toward his gun. 

“Wait!” Barnaby shouted and got his attention. “He’s harmless!”

The cop kept his hand on his gun anyway. “How do I know that?” he shouted back. 

“…You don’t, but as you can see he hasn’t harmed anyone and isn’t coming after you! Besides, do you distrust me?” He and Kotetsu had stopped and were just standing. 

“You!? You….” The cop’s face paled. “Barnaby Brooks Jr.!”

Barnaby simply nodded as the cop went for his radio next, probably for backup even though he didn’t need it. They were always calling for backup in Stern Bild. Barnaby could understand, though, because it was a violent city.

He decided to beckon the man closer. “Hey, come over here!”

The cop stared at Kotetsu, stepped forward, stared some more and came a little closer. “I am not approaching any closer,” he told Barnaby, trying to sound firm but his voice wavered. He was close enough that Barnaby didn’t really have to shout anymore. 

“That’s fine, I just wanted to explain.”

“That would be a good idea,” the cop replied. 

“He’s a human,” he said, petting Kotetsu carefully. “He got transformed into this, but he is human.” He wasn’t sure Kotetsu liked him telling anyone yet, but they had to let the cat out of the bag to do things as easily as possible. They were out in the open so Ouroboros would learn about him leaving the tower anyway. They would probably be after him…

Actually, having a police escort might be a good idea. He didn’t know who was and wasn’t with Ouroboros but a large police escort in public would be safe enough, right? If danger did come about Kotetsu could protect himself as could Barnaby. Actually, safer than the police – he could just request the other heroes! He was confident none of them were involved with Ouroboros. 

“That’s…a human?” the cop asked.

Barnaby nodded. “Yes. And we’re on the way to get him turned back. I am wondering if I could request aide from my fellow heroes to make sure we safely get where we need to go.”

“The police force is more than competent to-“

“I would like the heroes.” Barnaby stood firm. 

“Do you not trust the police?”

“I’m not sure who I can trust aside from this man beside me, officer,” Barnaby said and it was honest. He hated that it was the truth, but that was the harsh reality. He couldn’t trust Maverick, so who could he put faith in, aside from the Heroes and Kotetsu at that point in time?

He heard some more sirens and knew other cars were coming. The cop began to look more at ease when he heard them too. “I know you are a hero yourself, but I’m not sure…you will likely still be detained and questioned.”

“On what grounds?”

“Uhh…”

“We’ve done nothing wrong. We have walked down the street. Ko…Tiger, as I have been calling him, has hurt no one, he hasn’t even spoken to them. You can’t hold us just because he has an unusual appearance.” Barnaby couldn’t help but feel annoyed at the very notion of them being questioned and held. 

“That’s true, but…”

“Besides, when Agnes hears about this, she won’t hesitate to send the others. The ratings will be though the roof with this guy,” he said, not really paying attention to the way his hand strayed and he began to scratch Kotetsu under his chin. Kotetu’s eyes slid closed and Barnaby felt rather than heard a soft purr.

He kept that up even as the other cars parked and other cops jumped out, all immediately going for their weapons and looking ready to rumble. Barnaby just sighed and pressed himself closer to Kotetsu. 

He didn’t want to admit he was a little afraid of what might happen. The fact was, though, that he was so nervous he felt sick to his stomach.

 

If there was one object Barnaby wished he had with him at the moment, it was that plush bunny Kotetsu gave him when he was sick. He was sure something like a gun might be more useful if things got ugly, but he didn’t want anything like that. He wanted the toy he had kind of abandoned in the bedroom because up until that moment, he hadn’t cared for it very much, nor had he slept with it. Why would he when he had Kotetsu?

He wanted that comfort, desperately, especially if they got separated.

So far things were on their side. They were on hundreds of television screens across the city. The number of cameramen outnumbered the police, who had put away their weapons but were keeping their distance. They hadn’t let them get very far even though Barnaby was trying to move. They still had no reason to keep them there but Barnaby could see the situation just wasn’t going to be easy.

The heroes showed up, as requested…sort of. More accurately, Rock Bison and Dragon Kid showed up while the others were rather suddenly involved with something else, a bomb somewhere Barnaby was told. 

“Bet Maverick set it up,” Kotetsu whispered into his ear when Barnaby was close against him, and it made Barnaby shudder. He sure hoped not, but if everything Kotetsu said was true then it made sense to try and occupy all the heroes when they wanted them. 

He was unsure of why it was just those two. Rock Bison forced himself through the crowd of onlookers and even through the police. He marched right up to Barnaby and leaned toward him, raising the faceplate. He kept his voice low. “What’s all this, Barnaby? Does this have to do with Kotetsu?”

Before Barnaby could answer, Kotetsu spoke, that time a little above a whisper. “It’s me you idiot.”

Rock Bison startled and Barnaby heard the gasps of people standing nearest them. He knew that meant they could hear or tell Kotetsu was talking. Rock Bison almost blew it all immediately. “Kotet-“

Barnaby reached up and shoved his hand in Bison’s face to shut him up, effectively muffling him. “Shush! That doesn’t need to be known yet, he’s kinda hiding!”

“Yea,” Kotetsu said, eyes focused on Bison. “Keep it down. But I’m okay. You can call Muramasa and pass it on.”

Bison glared at Barnaby and peeled his hand off his face. “Can I really? Doesn’t look like you’re free yet, and you’re…uh…pretty far from human.”

“He knows that,” Barnaby hissed. “But don’t go calling anyone. We need you here to protect us. Where is everyone else?”

“Um, they got called out. If you meant to ask why Dragon Kid is here, her and I didn’t get the other call, we were hanging out at the time. I was showing her my body.”

Kotetsu made a very disgusted sound and Barnaby cringed.

“Not like that! We were in a public- oh forget it.” Bison sighed. “Right, well I’ll help protect you to get him somewhere safe. But where…?”

“We have the address of the man who changed him – we think – so we’re going there. And then figuring things out.” Barnaby watched Dragon Kid start toward them after calming some people down. 

“Not a very solid plan,” Bison muttered.

Barnaby shook his head. “It’s not. But he’s stubborn and this is what we have.”

“He’s always a stubborn ass,” Bison said with a chuckle and Kotetsu glared.

“I sure am learning that. I wanted him to stay there and be safe, but he wouldn’t have it. He refused to be apart from me and-“

“Be apart? Odd choice of words.”

“Uh…” Barnaby faltered and at that moment Dragon Kid showed up. 

She watched Kotetsu carefully, obviously unaware of who he was. She was trying to keep her distance while also looking ready to spring any time. Barnaby wished he could just tell her, but he even felt uncomfortable that Bison knew. 

“Mr. Maverick is on his way! He would like to personally over-“

“Maverick!?” Barnaby immediately exchanged worried glanced with Kotetsu. “Uh, he doesn’t have better things to do!”

“Not when you suddenly show up walking down the street with this…this…THIS!” She finally settled on, gesturing at Kotetsu. “I’ve heard he’s upset with you too.” She crossed her arms. “I thought you were part of HeroTV.”

Barnaby narrowed his eyes at her. “I am.”

“You haven’t been around!”

“I’ve been busy!” Barnaby growled back. He’d dropped his hand a while ago but his fingers found their way to Kotetsu’s fur as he sought a way to keep his temper from going bad. He did not need that. 

“Busy with this little sidequest? Are you even going to give us details or keep it a secret?”

“Enough Dragon Kid,” Bison finally said, holding up a hand. “I know what’s been going on. It’s fine.”

She looked like she wanted to say something, but fell quiet. She didn’t stop glaring daggers at Barnaby though, and Rock Bison as well. Kotetsu stared at the ground. Barnaby glared at everyone else while he panicked inside. He needed to avoid Maverick. He couldn’t see Maverick. It was more than knowing he was a dangerous man – the conflicting emotions he knew he’d feel upon seeing him could be bad. He loved Maverick as family…

If he thought it wouldn’t make things worse he would try to split right then and there with Kotetsu, but then they would be wanted, hunted, something like that. It would give away everything he knew as well which would make Maverick even more dangerous.

All he could do was wait with an anxious pain in his stomach as more people formed around them in a circle to watch. They were an attraction to those people and Barnaby couldn’t stand it. At the same time, he couldn’t afford to make anyone mad, so he had to stay silent and wait. 

Barnaby stared at the pattern of Kotetsus fur. He stared as people talked, stared as he heard another car pull up, and stared as he hear Maverick’s voice. He didn’t want to turn around even as he heard Maverick coming closer, could hear the footfalls behind him. 

“Barnaby, turn around.”

Barnaby swallowed and did so. “Mr. Maverick,” he said quietly, staring at him. The man had raised him and taken care of him…

“I’m proud of you, my boy.”

Barnaby blinked. “Huh?”

“I’ve been looking for this one for a while,” he said, nodding towards Kotetsu. “Had I known you had found him…” Maverick smiled widely. Then he turned around and stared at the crowd. “Barnaby Brooks Jr. has captured a wanted criminal!”

The crowd should have cheered, maybe, but they stayed hushed. Barnaby was a little surprised. 

Maverick hesitated, but kept going. “This criminal has put himself in a form to intimidate and scare you all. We will take him and change him back. THIS is the man responsible for Wild Tiger’s disappearance!” he said, pointing at Kotetsu and some people cheered but still slowly.

Barnaby didn’t understand it. But maybe they could see right through him, too. Or they were confused, because Barnaby was with the beast and there had been no violence, nothing scary other than Kotetsu’s appearance itself.

“I know what you are.” 

Barnaby and Maverick both turned around to look at Kotetsu. Dragon Kid gasped, and Rock Bison stayed quiet. 

“I know what you are, you scumbag.” Kotetsu took two steps toward Maverick and a few officers started for their guns. “You know I know – where are the other heroes? At the bombing you arranged as soon as you learned I was here?”

Maverick glared back. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Kotetsu raised his head. “Don’t trust this man!” He rose himself up on two legs and the guns did come out. “He’s not who he appears to be! Albert Maverick, CEO of HeroTV…boss of Ouroboros….” He did that thing again where he attempted a smile but it looked frightening more than anything. It had to be intentional. “He’s tricking you all! If you all just pay attention you’ll see which disasters are real, and which ones are rigged!” 

People started whispering. “It’s clear we’re going to have to cage him…” Maverick waved for the officers to come closer. “You may not understand it yet Barnaby, but thank you.”

“Leave him alone,” Barnaby said, stepping in front of Kotetsu.

“Bunny, don’t,” Kotetsu said softly. 

Barnaby ignored him and Maverick just stared at him. Barnaby wanted to shrivel under that glare; he didn’t like it when Maverick was displeased with him. But he had to stay firm. “I said leave him alone.”

“Do you believe him, Barnaby?” Maverick asked. “He’s trying to use you, you know.”

“I…just leave him alone.”

Maverick sighed. “You let me down…”

It was like being stabbed in the heart and Barnaby held onto Kotetsu because he was at risk of losing his balance. His head hurt and he had to hold it. He let Maverick down, how could he? How could he…

Kotetsu gently peeled out of his grip and Barnaby wanted to cry and ask him why. Instead he just fell on his knees. 

Then things happened too fast. 

Kotetsu lit up blue. Barnaby caught Maverick’s surprised and scared expression. He didn’t realize Kotetsu would still have his powers. Kotetsu lunged and Maverick went down. Guns went off, there was screaming, and Kotetsu picked Maverick up. He snarled something at him and then went down on all fours. 

His nose touched Barnaby’s forehead, then he leapt over him and was gone. 

There was a rush of people, both going after Kotetsu and coming to him and Maverick. Rock Bison and Dragon Kid started to keep folks back, moving fast and keeping the two from getting swarmed. 

Barnaby found himself on his hands and knees feeling pathetic and like he was going to throw up. He felt frozen like he couldn’t move. 

Maverick rolled towards him and started to get up. Looking at Barnaby, and hidden from anyone else behind them, his eyes started to glow blue. 

Barnaby couldn’t even process that Maverick was a NEXT. Kotetsu hadn’t told him about that. It was too much. He could only focus on the way Maverick was reaching toward him. 

He knew that whatever happened, if that hand touched him he would fail Kotetsu.


	5. Wild Approval

What Barnaby couldn’t figure out was why Kotetsu did what he did. If he had stayed calm they would have been better off, there wouldn’t be so much panic and he wouldn’t have people after him, hunting him. Everything could have been straightened out. What could Maverick even do to them in front of the police and so many other spectators? Unless they were all in Ouroboros, he imagined he couldn’t do a thing.

Ouroboros…

Maverick was reaching for him, and Barnaby remembered all he had been told. Kotetsu had told him days ago that the boss of Ouroboros was the one who killed his parents, and who was going to set up Jake, the man in prison. That was in the first story, which was much the same as the real story Kotetsu had finally told him when he finally admitted Maverick was the boss. But the second time Kotetsu had told him, he omitted Maverick killing his parents.

Kotetsu had inconsistencies in a lot of the stuff he had told Barnaby, but with the last couple of days Barnaby knew he was trying to be more truthful than anything, having let his defenses a little. So why hadn’t he made a point of saying Maverick killed his parents the second time they talked?

Either he thought Barnaby remembered….or he was trying to protect him through omission. If it was the latter, it worked. Barnaby was so shaken up by everything he was told in addition to waking up sick and having his mini fight with Kotetsu that he failed to realize Maverick was the murderer.

He was ashamed. Had he been in his normal, healthy state of mind he would have understood what Kotetsu told him. 

The hand was an inch away from him and Barnaby managed to move, punching the arm away. Maverick grunted in pain and withdrew. “You killed my parents, didn’t you?”

“Barnaby, you’re not well.”

“Answer me.”

Maverick sighed and sat up, straightening his tie even in the chaos that was currently gathering around them. Rock Bison and Dragon Kid did a good job keeping the spectators away. “I did,” he said quietly, and unfortunately Barnaby knew that no one else could hear him. They were all talking and yelling about the ‘monster’. 

Barnaby’s blood boiled and he had to restrain himself from activating his powers. His first instinct was to smash Maverick’s head against the hard ground but even as he thought that the feelings of guilt and confusion continued to eat at him. “Why!?” he asked loudly, tears spilling down his cheeks. He didn’t care that he was crying. 

“I did it for the good of HeroTV and NEXTs everywhere,” Maverick said. “You calm down and I can explain.”

“Calm down!?” Was Maverick insane?

…He had to be. 

“I will not calm down! YOU KILLED MY PARENTS!” Barnaby shrieked, unable to keep it down. People hushed and he was sure they were watching. “Why!?”

“Barnaby-“ 

“Fuck you Maverick!” Barnaby shouted, not even wanting to hear the why by then. He would later. But Maverick admitting to it was all he could take. He had so many questions! Why would Maverick kill them? Why was Maverick admitting it right there? What would Maverick do to him, and why couldn’t Barnaby remember Maverick as the killer? Where was Kotetsu? What would happen to Kotetsu for knowing? Would Maverick go to jail?

No, he wouldn’t have the chance. Barnaby screamed and charged at him-

Only to be stopped by Rock Bison. 

“Barnaby, no!” he said, his hand gripping Barnaby’s arm as Barnaby’s free one hit his chest. It hurt, but Barnaby didn’t care. He hit it again, sobbing. And again. And AGAIN. His hand was going to be numb and broken if he didn’t stop himself soon. 

So he did. And he finally did activate his powers. Rock Bison uttered his name again as a clear warning and Dragon Kid finally joined him, looking uneasy.

“Don’t let him touch you. Arrest him,” he growled to Rock Bison, while pointing at Maverick. 

That was all he could take. Barnaby jumped, high and far away.

 

Maverick betrayed him, the man he trusted his whole life and saw as his family killed his real one. Barnaby didn’t have the time or state of mind to control the anger and grief he felt. He would hurt Maverick and hurt himself if he hadn’t gotten away from him. 

He wanted to find Kotetsu more than he wanted to deal with Maverick. Kotetsu was the only one who could help him. Kotetsu was the only one who…

If Kotetsu had lied to him, if he had betrayed him Barnaby would break. He knew he would. So far, the important things he’d been told over the last day were true. He wished that made him feel completely optimistic. 

Barnaby wanted to go straight for that address, but he had to get away from prying eyes for a little while. Just a little while. He found himself in an empty parking lot that was pretty far from the place he had just left, and where he was going. Behind him was a closed down old shoe store, and not a soul to be seen. A cold wind caught him and he shivered seconds before feeling what he was sure was a drop of rain.

It wasn’t unexpected, but it made him feel even more miserable. Barnaby let himself crumple to the ground and bury his face in his hands so he could sob the way he needed to. He was loud, he was gross, and he found it hard to breath. Still he cried for a long time. His world had been turned upside down and he felt lost. He could tell himself it would all be better later when Kotetsu was safe as a human, but it wasn’t that easy. Kotetsu might not become a human again. And what if he didn’t like Barnaby anymore, as he feared might happen? 

At that point he wouldn’t even be able to be a hero anymore, surrounded by Kotetsu’s coworkers and friends on a daily basis. Did he ever want to be a hero, though?

His memory attacked him and he fought for breath as he saw Maverick as the shooter, clear in his mind then. He saw the real memories behind the times he had remembered Maverick doing various wonderful things for him. He remembered an orphanage, and the fancy guest room at Maverick’s was a once in a while thing as opposed to his home. 

How the fuck had he forgotten that? Why had his memories changed? …Had they changed?

He couldn’t be a hero in his current condition. He was too messed up, and his only hope in recovering and figuring things out laid in Kotetsu. Barnaby never formed such dependent attachments, never, but he needed help in the form of someone he could trust, not a strange doctor or therapist. 

He rocked back and forth to try and help his breathing control and emotions. He shut down, barely paying attention to his surroundings. Everything stayed quiet, cold, and undisturbed. He was able to cry and wail and shout insults at the sky until he was somewhat content.

He had no idea how long he stayed there. Something eventually told him he needed to get up, needed to move. So, he slowly stood up, legs shaky. His head hurt and he felt so tired, cold, wet, but he had to go. He already wasted enough time having a breakdown and that pissed him off.

Mentally he was in bad shape, and he knew it. 

Barnaby had to go look for Finn and Kotetsu. He started to head toward the place he knew, merely walking. He wasn’t sure if his powers were back but regardless he knew he shouldn’t use them right away. He was going to be around a lot of activity.

The address was near one of the city’s smaller but cleaner parks and he was at least happy for that. He wasn’t so happy for the people whispering and pointing at him as he went by. With his face on all sorts of screens not so long ago, people were probably actively keeping an eye out for him. Not searching, because there was no reason to call a manhunt on him especially with Kotetsu running around.

He didn’t need Maverick or anyone on Maverick’s side to know his location. Still, he couldn’t exactly order everyone to shut up so he silently continued on. His slow pace annoyed him but it gave him time to formulate various plans in his head.

Or at least, that’s what he thought until he heard a shout above him and some commotion from around him. He stopped and looked up to see Sky High coming in for a landing. Barnaby stepped back a couple of feet to allow him plenty of room.

Sky High landed and saluted him. “Barnaby sir! I’ve found you!”

“Yup.” He wasn’t into obvious statements at the moment. “Well, what do you want?”

“I am to bring you to Kotetsu! Rock Bison called me and told me what was happening.”

“Oh.” And Sky High believed it all? …Well, he had no reason to disbelieve Rock Bison, Barnaby supposed, and Sky High really was a little more easily swayed than the rest. At least, that was the impression he gave off. 

“I am to bring you to Kotetsu!”

“That’s great, but I don’t know where he is, exactly.” He didn’t. He only hoped he knew.

“I do! And again, I do!”

Barnaby practically lunged at Sky High who only stepped back a little bit as Barnaby grabbed his shoulders. “You KNOW? How do you know!?” 

“Please, don’t be so rough!”

Barnaby was unsure that Sky High could even feel his hands on him through his suit. He apologized anyway. “Sorry. But, how…?”

“Well, the police followed Kotetsu and when I was done with the other call and Rock Bison contacted me, it was easy to know where he was. So I followed.”

“I suppose the police are still there…”

“No. I…I was instructed to use my power to blow them back, so I did, on ground and in the air. The ti…er…Kotetsu told me to. I found him again when flying overhead and led him somewhere safe.”

“I’m guessing there was no one with him.”

“There was not.”

“Is he okay?”

“A few injuries from bullets, and he’s tired, but he’s alright!”

“Bullets!? I…ugh.” Barnaby took a deep breath to keep from exploding. “I…okay. Just take me to him. Can you lift me?”

He was sure he heard Sky High chuckle. “Of course!” And then he was in the air, rain hitting his face.

 

Sky High brought him to a garden. A secretive, pretty little garden behind a building, where no one would really think to look. Being that it was October it was the décor rather than flowers that made it pretty – some decorative lighting, woodland creature statues, a little brick pathway between where things were planted. That wasn’t to say there were no flowers, but there were very few late bloomers. 

Barnaby only noticed such details as they landed because he found it to be an odd place. Wouldn’t Kotetsu hide inside, somewhere? But as he walked forward there he was, lying on his side…with a strange man next to him.

The man had short black hair and a mustache. He was a short round guy, fairly young looking. He was talking quietly to Kotetsu. It seemed…safe enough until Barnaby noticed that bleeding wounds in Kotetsu’s side.

He rushed forward. “Kotetsu!” He dropped to his knees beside him and stroked the damp fur on his neck. He was excited to see him, and scared. He was also mad. He turned to Sky High. “You said he was here alone!”

“He was!” Sky High said, stepping back.

“And who are you?” he asked the strange man. “Why the fuck are you just sitting here with him, and who the-“

“Sky High,” Kotetsu said, voice sounding strong despite how he looked. “Sky High, see you later.”

“Huh? Oh.” Sky High hesitated, but saluted Kotetsu. “Okay! I will remember to only talk to Rock Bison!”

“Thanks,” Kotetsu said, swallowing as though he were nervous. Sky Hight took off and Kotetsu turned his attention to Barnaby. “This is Perry, Finn’s brother. He has a similar power and tracked me down after seeing the news…”

“Are you sure he’s who he says he is?” Barnaby asked, glaring at the man and ready to protect Kotetsu at all costs. Now that he was there, touching him, it was difficult not to breakdown again. He was so, so happy to see him alive, and close to safe. But he was still injured and still a damn tiger. Nothing had been solved. 

Maybe it would remain that way…Barnaby didn’t care, as long as he remained by Kotetsu’s side. Even if the city crumbled around them, he didn’t care. 

“Yes, I’m sure…I can’t say how but…”

“Gut instinct. Kotetsu, why did you do that? Why did you go for Maverick and then leave?”

“I don’t really know.”

“Eh?”

“It’s like…when I would wake up and not know you. It only happened a couple times, I know, but anyway- I just sort of felt danger and a loss of control and the only thing I could do was attempt an attack and run away. I don’t even remember quite how I got here. I…I snapped.” He chuckled weakly and Barnaby tried to hush him.

“Okay, okay understood, but you’re hurt now and we need to do something about that.”

“I can help.” The strange man, Perry, finally spoke up and Barnaby practically glared at him. The man continued, however. “I can do transformations similar to my brother, and it is possible when he is changed back his wounds will be healed. And if not, we can give them medical attention.”

Well that seemed far too easy. Barnaby didn’t like it and he still glared. “I don’t trust you.”

“Bunny…” Kotetsu sighed heavily, and sirens could be heard in the background.

They came closer, then continued on farther, and Barnaby let out a sigh of relief. “I don’t,” he said, stroking Kotetsu’s side very gently. “I don’t trust anyone I don’t know. And I can’t trust a stranger especially now, when it comes to you.”

“Then what do you want to do?” Perry asked. “I can only offer my help, and hope you’ll let Kotetsu take it.”

“How can we trust you? I mean, you’re suddenly…here. And helping. No explanation, where were you before? Why would you do this?” Barnaby supposed it wouldn’t be so bad if he was doing it for fame, as long as it made Kotetsu better, but he just didn’t accept it might be that simple.

Perry studied him and then sat back, leaning away from Kotetsu. “I saw everything on the news. I thought it was interesting, until I began to recognize my brother’s work.”

“How could you recog-“

Barnaby was cut off when Perry answered. “This isn’t the first man he’s change into a beast. It’s the first one anyone’s seemed to notice, though. And as far as I know, he and I are the only two with the ability to do this. At least, we’ve never seen evidence telling us otherwise.”

“Okay…” Barnaby could accept that. He didn’t see anyone else who matched what Finn could do. Then again, he hadn’t seen Perry on the list either. That didn’t mean much he realized. He was just an undocumented NEXT, one Maverick hadn’t found. …Maverick’s involvement with Ouroboros meant that list of NEXTs made a lot more sense. “Anyway, why would you go out and get Kotetsu, keep him safe, and change him back? What do you want from us?”

“Nothing. I’m used to cleaning up the messes my idiot brother makes. This is his worst by far.”

“But, he helped me,” Kotetsu said. “He didn’t mean to, he was pissed at me for running into him, but I think this kind of saved me.”

Perry shook his head. “Don’t make excuses for him. I think he realized he really messed up, after changing you and getting a damn gang on his ass, so he’s gone. He left this city as soon as he could, and now you have me.”

Barnaby nodded. He still didn’t know what he believed but he really had no choice to accept it for the time being. He sank down, burying his face in the dirty fur on Kotetsu’s neck. It was one of the spots that wasn’t bloody. Kotetsu’s injuries weren’t that bad, probably, for him to be calmly laying there. He was probably just out of energy.

“You’re sure you can change him back?” Barnaby asked, his cheek against the fur.

“Not fully.” 

Barnaby blinked at that answer, and before he could ask Perry about it, Kotetsu’s paw went over his back. It held him close. “It’ll be okay, Bunny.”

Perry spoke again after a few moments of silence. “I’m going to try my best, and it is likely that it will work! But if it doesn’t, he may change into something else, and it’s possible that whatever he turns into, he may not survive the process.”

“Has that happened before?” Barnaby asked, quietly.

“Yes.”

Barnaby just stared at Perry, head still resting on Kotetsu. He wanted to freak out and yell, wanted to express something, but it wouldn’t have any effect. He couldn’t actually do anything else. There was no alternative. Hero Academy couldn’t prepare him for every single situation. 

He thought about how he wanted the paw on his back to be a hand, and not attached to a foreleg but a human arm. He wanted to be pressing his lips against warm skin instead of resting his face on dirty fur. He wanted to be able to kiss Kotetsu, and not just little pecks on the top of the head or cheek. He wouldn’t be able to do any of that without taking a chance. And even if he didn’t trust Perry, there was nothing that said he shouldn’t trust him either. 

Maybe he really was just a good guy. Maybe it really was that simple. Barnaby had it in his head that everyone had to have some complex motive to the things they did. He’d always been like that, ever since trying to understand his parents’ murder. Finding out Maverick was the murderer only added to it.

He had no idea what was going on in the outside world, if Maverick had been captured or not. His eyes fixed on some flowers growing from around a little frog statue in the garden and he spaced out. He didn’t know what to do about Maverick. He was such a powerful man that he could do something horrible to him, and to Kotetsu and…

The cycle of sadness, anger, and loneliness would never end, because Maverick was too strong. 

Barnaby wanted to cry. No, no he had to focus on Kotetsu. Whatever happened, he had to try to get Kotetsu back first. 

“Do it,” he mumbled to Perry.

“What’s that?” Perry asked.

Kotetsu answered him. “He wants you to try to turn me back. So I guess, we have his permission.” Kotetsu chuckled and then whined, low and short. “Sorry, pain’s getting to me…”

Barnaby closed his eyes briefly. Kotetsu could have tried the change before he got there, but he waited, and he let Barnaby make the decision. Well. He made A decision, but Kotetsu may have gone forth anyway.

Regardless…it touched him and Barnaby clung to Kotetsu. If he had ever needed proof he was important to Kotetsu, there it was. “Better change him now,” Barnaby said, sniffing. “It might rain again soon, and we don’t want him out here in the rain, like this.” 

Perry nodded. “We can always bring him inside-“

“Just do it before it rains again,” Barnaby pleaded, not sure why he was even doing that. He sounded pathetic. “Please…”

“Kotetsu?” Perry asked, looking at him for an answer even if he already had it. 

“Yes, please, try. Bunny, you gotta have faith in this.”

“You also have to step back,” Perry said gently. “You can’t touch him during this.”

Feeling numb, Barnaby nodded slowly. He still took a minute to pry himself off, locking eyes with Kotetsu’s golden gaze. If Kotetsu didn’t survive, Barnaby doubted he would either. He…he had to separate himself. “I’m going to go inside,” he said, indicating the entrance from the garden to the building behind them. 

Perry nodded. “Go in my apartment, and stay there until we’re done. Its best you don’t watch in case this goes wrong.”

“Kotetsu…” Barnaby rubbed his eyes.

“I know, Bunny. I know.” 

Barnaby actually had no idea what he was going to say or how to express his feelings, but apparently Kotetsu knew. As goofy as that sounded, he accepted it and turned around. It was the hardest thing to do, but the longer he lingered, the worse he would be. 

There was so much he did want to say, he was sure of it. He would go to the apartment, think about how to word it, and hopefully he would get to say it to Kotetsu’s human face. 

 

Once inside the small apartment, Barnaby sought out a couch. Perry had a living room of some sort, attached to a kitchen. Two other doors possibly led to a bathroom and bedroom, Barnaby wasn’t going to look. He just sat on the tattered old red couch he found facing a TV, which while it wasn’t very big actually was not too outdated. 

Barnaby didn’t turn on the television. He looked for a book, a magazine, anything to distract himself. If he turned on the tv, he would just see the news. He couldn’t handle that. Luckily on the small round table next to the couch, he found a cooking magazine. Barnaby opened it and tried to focus on the recipes. 

Recipes for dinners to make involving cream cheese were what he saw when he opened the magazine. Ah, yes, good, things he could cook when he was back home. He rarely actually cooked a meal, usually making something very basic and simple, eating out, or when he was tired, microwaving. It would be nice to make something filling and home-cooked after spending the last week or two, he’d lost track, eating tuna out of cans and hot dogs pressed against the side of a space heater. 

He might miss that.

Barnaby stared at that first page for a while, unable to focus his eyes. He could hear some noise from the garden, some low talking, a few growls here and there…and then a high pitched noise that was almost painful. Barnaby wanted to cover his ears but he couldn’t. He could only hold the magazine and shake all over. 

Nope, the magazine wasn’t helping. Television it was, then, and he found the remote control easily. He turned it on at a low volume and just as he thought, there was coverage of what was happening in the city. 

Cops and heroes were still on the lookout for the beast. Barnaby saw Sky High in that group and felt immense relief. It meant Sky High was undoubtedly on his side. He wasn’t steering the group anywhere near their actual location. People were looking from the sides of the streets and from out of the windows of the buildings and there was a lot of noise, but nothing else happening. It was just a search at that point.

The camera switched to Maverick, and Barnaby nearly fell off the couch. 

He had cuffs around his wrists along with some other men and they were surrounded by armed defense, people who looked to be from the army rather than cops. The scrolling on the bottom of the screen indicated Maverick was being heavily questioned after his fight with Rock Bison led to evidence being uncovered.

It was all very shocking, and surreal. The most disturbing part, however, was how calm Maverick looked. He looked unworried, like it was just a big misunderstanding that would be cleared up soon enough. 

If he had a whole criminal organization behind him, he was more powerful than anyone else had thought, and he had every reason to look unworried. Barnaby didn’t have any idea which way it would go. Maverick could be locked up and members of Ouroboros tracked down, or he could be released and be behind even bigger disasters. 

Barnaby’s mind flashed back to his parents once again and his head throbbed as images ran through. Maverick was clear in each one and Barnaby felt sick. 

He hoped his guardian rotted in a jail cell.

No, that was cruel. That was horrible. Barnaby curled up in a ball on the couch, unsure of how to feel. He should have gotten used to that indecision he felt since it had been hitting him in waves all day. He was so confused.

He just wanted to curl in on himself, block it all out, keep it all away…the sounds of the news, his warped memories, his recovered memories, the talking outside…

He blocked it out.

Barnaby tried his best to clear his mind into nothing, hiding in his own cage of limbs and wishing it would all just end. He had been so confident and happy when he became a hero. He was so skilled, he knew he had looks, he had a bright future, and everything crumbled down around him, why?

Over and over he asked himself that in his head, startling when a hand touched his shoulder. 

With a noise that sounded like a snarl Barnaby looked up to see who dared touch him. 

He saw Kotetsu. He saw Kotetsu the human, standing next to him with a concerned look on his face. Barnaby didn’t even take in the details before he sprang up and off the couch directly into Kotetsu’s arms, hugging him tightly and not daring to speak. What if Kotetsu was merely a hallucination? He felt too warm to be.

“Are you real?” he whispered into Kotetsu’s ear, the brown hair tickling his nose. 

“Uh huh. It’s me, Bunny.” Kotetsu was hugging him too, and it felt good to feel his fingers on his back instead of claws. 

Barnaby still didn’t dare look, so he just held him. “You’re back to normal? You’re….you’re…”

“Well, not totally.”

Barnaby blinked and released Kotetsu somewhat, leaning back so he could actually take him in. Kotetsu was nearly naked with the exception of those ratty green shorts, now too big for him and tied on semi-tightly by the rope he had used on each pair as the beast. Seeing him as a human in so little made Barnaby blush but he continued to study Kotetsu. 

Very, very faint stripes were on and around his torso in the form of even darker skin. His chest was a little…well, fuzzy. He wouldn’t be having chest hair – he would have chest fur. The shocking thing was that Barnaby was used to it. 

He rested his hand on the side of Kotetsu’s face and gazed at it. His teeth were sharper. They were mostly human but Barnaby could see the sharpness in his smile. His eyes that had looked so human now held a wilder look. Barnaby had a feeling he was going to feel like prey most of the time…

Other than those small things he looked like he did before being a beast, just more unshaven. “You look very human,” he said quietly, wondering what to do next. Should he kiss him? He wanted to, he really wanted to, and now Kotetsu had those soft looking lips and- “Aaah!” Barnaby jumped and almost fell back on the couch when something soft touched his leg. 

“Eh…yea, there’s one major thing I guess.” Kotetsu shrugged and looked guilty. Then he looked down and Barnaby followed his gaze.

Of course. 

Kotetsu had kept his tiger tail. 

Barnaby stared at it, mesmerized. It was strange to think about the way Kotetsu had been that beast for so long, up until five minutes ago or so. That tail, well he’d gotten used to it, and it could have been far worse. But unless there was something different in his shorts, Barnaby was sure he could handle what Kotetsu had been left with. 

He did sit on the couch then. He was again, overwhelmed.

Kotetsu looked down at him and then decided to move forward and sit on the couch, turning his body toward him. “Bunny? …Well? What do you think of me?” he asked and what insecurity he had was obvious.

“I, I, I am still trying to…”

“Right, right.” Kotetsu nodded, looking at the floor momentarily before returning his gaze to Barnaby. He hesitantly reached for him and trailed his finger lightly down his arm, all the way to his hand which he gently took. Barnaby watched him the whole time and noticed Kotetsu looked nervous, scared. 

He was probably afraid of being rejected now that everything was more ‘real’. He wasn’t Barnaby’s hidden secret anymore. 

No, he wasn’t ‘Tiger’ anymore, and Barnaby was unused to the worried human face in front of him even if he had seen it before. But he was still Kotetsu. He knew that. He thought back to the tower and how Kotetsu had been there when he was sick, talked to him, protected people, held him in his pile of blankets and ate hotdogs like a pig. It was all stuff he would do as a human, too. There was no denying that. 

He squeezed Kotetsu’s hand and it immediately felt right. 

“I, ah, I approve,” he whispered. He didn’t know how to put it. But that felt like the best way. He had thought Kotetsu was attractive before, and the shock of actually having him that way didn’t change it. 

“You had to think about it.”

“It’s been a long day,” Barnaby replied. As soon as the words left his mouth he broke down again.

Apparently he hadn’t finished in the empty parking lot. He covered his eyes with his free hand even as the tears spilled out, taking short quick breaths and trying to cry quietly.

“Hey, ssshh, hey, it’s okay,” Kotetsu soothed and he tugged on Barnaby’s hand. A little more tugging and Barnaby got the idea. 

He moved over closer to Kotetsu who let go of his hand only to put his arms around him and pull him in. He squeezed him and Barnaby felt his lips against his forehead, brushing tentatively before the first little kiss was planted. More followed, each soft and warm. Barnaby turned his head inward after a while to sob and shake against Kotetsu’s chest as his back was lightly stroked. Being there it was warm and comforting, and as he calmed down he was very aware of the bare skin he was pressing his face against. 

By the time he started to pull away Kotetsu’s fingers were running through his hair. He looked down at Barnaby, who looked up at him. “Hey,” Kotetsu said, watching him. 

“Hey,” Barnaby replied and took a deep breath to regain control. He half sat back up, never taking his eyes off Kotetsu. 

“Sooo…” 

“So?”

“What now, Lil’ Bunny?”

“I want to do uh, I want to try something.” 

Kotetsu raised an eyebrow but nodded. He looked at Barnaby’s hand as he touched the side of his face once again, and then slid around so he held the back of his head. Barnaby’s heart beat fast and he felt overheated as he brought his face closer to Kotetsu’s.

Yet another thing he had never learned to do at the Academy…

He closed the distance to press his lips against Kotetsu’s, closing his eyes in an effort to focus on not see Kotetsu frowning if he didn’t like it. They locked lips and stayed like that, Kotetsu’s hands on his sides. Kotetsu swiped his tongue over Barnaby’s lower lip and Barnaby pulled back suddenly in surprise. “What...?”

“Just a little taste,” Kotetsu said with a playful smirk. “I won’t push it.” 

Barnaby nodded as if relieved but then leaned in again and kissed him again. He parted his lips then to invite Kotetsu in. When Kotetsu took him up on it Barnaby almost jumped back again, but instead he just returned it. It was messy, warm and wet, but he didn’t want to stop it. 

And so, when the kiss was broken that time it was Kotetsu leaning back with his cheeks darkened in a blush. “Ah-heh. Well. That was…”

“Terrible?” Barnaby allowed himself to smile, just a little. “I don’t exactly know what I’m doing here.”

Kotetsu laughed a little and shook his head. “It was nice. A little, uh, slobbery you know, but after some more practice you’ll be just fine.”

“Uh huh, practice,” Barnaby said, going forward again to practically crawl into Kotetsu’s lap and kiss him some more. He didn’t mean to be losing control, but once the shock had worn off a little, and Kotetsu’s presence pushed Maverick to the back of his mind, all he wanted to do was touch and kiss Kotetsu. It was fascinating as hell to feel that way for someone. He hadn’t allowed himself to feel too physical at all when he was a tiger.

But as a human, Barnaby was ready to jump him. That wasn’t healthy, was it? He didn’t care and was barely aware they were kissing again as he drowned in Kotetsu. 

Yet again Kotetsu had to push him off, an entertained look on his face. “We probably shouldn’t get so…so…you know, on Perry’s couch.”

Barnaby blinked and then his eyes went wide. “Oh fuck!” he said and sprang to his feet. Shit! He’d lost track of where he was! He’d stopped listening to the news and his common sense had gone right out the window. He was beyond embarrassed just knowing the only thing he’d thought about was exploring Kotetsu’s body. After crying. He was an absolute train wreck. “I lost my focus completely, I’ve never…oh Kotetsu I’m sorry, between crying and that I must be such a mess.” 

Kotetsu shrugged and stood with him. “Yea, a little bit. Can’t say I blame you.”

“Ah, yea…”

Again Kotetsu took his hand and pulled on it as he walked by. “We need to get outside and talk to Perry, and then contact the heroes. We need to know what’s going on.”

“Yea, we do. I need to know where Maverick is and if anything will be done about him.”

“I hope so. We’ll figure it out as we go, we’ll have to. But we’ll come out of it okay.”

“I hope so,” Barnaby said. Now that he’d had a taste he was unable to imagine the day ending in such a way that he could not have Kotetsu. No, he absolutely refused to be separated from him again. He would make that clear. 

“It’ll be alright. We’ll celebrate tonight with a call to my little girl and a couple glasses of wine, and then who knows.” Kotetsu sounded confident.

Barnaby was the scared one by then, so worried about having Kotetsu ripped away. He hadn’t even had a chance to figure out the words he wanted to say. He saw no point in saying that though, and let himself be pulled back to the garden.

 

Things didn’t turn out as badly as Barnaby had thought they would. They wouldn’t be easy, nothing would, and a lot of questions needed to be answered. 

When he and Kotetsu left Perry’s apartment – Perry himself refused to go with them, not wanting to be known about – they both thought they were going to be needing their powers right away. They thought they would have trouble immediately. 

With Kotetsu’s hand holding his own in a tight grip, they sought out anyone who could help them, policeman or hero. A hero would have been preferable. 

They found a young policeman instead. He was standing at the end of the street in front of a gas station, looking bored as hell and raising his hat to run his fingers through his light brown fluffy hair. He turned and looked at them, sighing and ready to go into his speech about how the area was blocked off, at least, that’s what Barnaby thought. 

He didn’t get that far. His gaze lingered on Barnaby and realization dawn on his face. “You’re…you’re Barnaby Brooks Jr.!” he said, pointing at Barnaby.

“Um, yes, that’s me…”

The man started speaking into his radio immediately, voice so low that Barnaby couldn’t hear it. He was just relieved a gun hadn’t been pointed at him; he was no criminal. “Okay, good!” he finally said, to no one in particular. Then he looked back at Barnaby. “Come with me! We need to keep you safe from that creature-“

“D’ya mean me?” Kotetsu asked, waving and flashing a toothy grin.

“I, uh…huh?” The policeman looked totally confused. 

Kotetsu half turned and showed off his tail. “Look familiar? Listen, I’m perfectly safe, especially now, but I’m what you guys have been searching the whole city for.”

The man immediately went for his gun, and Barnaby shouted. “STOP!” He stopped. Barnaby took a deep breath. “This IS the beast you were seeking. He is a man. He was always a man. It’s complicated. Where’s Maverick?”

“Uh…” The poor man looked taken aback. Barnaby walked up to him slowly, releasing Kotetsu’s hand in the process. He saw his name tag. The man was named Elias.

“Elias, is it? We’ll come with you, but please don’t hurt my friend, and I really need to know about Maverick.”

Elias relaxed a little. “He’s detained, and not too happy about it. But he hasn’t done anything. He’s under watch. Everyone is on high alert because there have been various attacks in the city from what we suspect is Ouroboros. They want him free. It’s…a bad situation,” he said, obviously stressed. 

“So…a lot of chaos right now,” Kotetsu stated. 

“Yes.” Elias started to pull away. “But please come with me. Your friends want to know you’re okay.”

“Are they….safe? Can we trust them?” Barnaby asked. 

“They’ve been staying away from Maverick and at one point led the search party off course, when things were still messy. I do believe they are all on your side,” Elias said with a small nod.

“We can trust them,” Kotetsu said quietly. “I know them well enough to be able to say this. And especially Rock Bison and Fire Emblem, they’re good guys.” He sounded so sure…

It made Barnaby sure. Naïve, maybe, but from what he was hearing things seemed to be going their way. “Alright, take us to them,” Barnaby said. He needed to find them, needed to feel that Maverick really was somewhere he couldn’t hurt anyone.

And then he could deal with whatever hit next. He wasn’t so worried about saving people, about stopping the attacks…he was more worried about his own breakdown. 

Kotetsu took his hand again and together they began their return to the world they had both left behind, even if unwillingly. 

 

“You got turned into a tiger…this kind of thing only happens to you, Kotetsu!” Rock Bison laughed and smacked Kotetsu hard on the back.

“Wow look at this! I think I can copy this,” Origami was saying as he stared in awe at Kotetsu’s tail. Dragon Kid joined him, laughing at the way it twitched. 

Fire Emblem was touching his stripes. “Oh dear, I don’t know if you realize how sexy this is…”

That’s when Barnaby felt possessive, and he stood up from his bench. 

All the heroes had gathered in the HeroTV main building. Barnaby and Kotetsu were taken there as the police and other heroes went to take care of business in Stern Bild. It was a long process, all of it. Barnaby and Kotetsu were checked over by nurses as soon as they got in – well, Barnaby was. His basics were checked, heart rate, temperature…Kotetsu refused. Barnaby tried to convince him, worried about his health, but Kotetsu just shook his head and walked away. Barnaby had to give up and just joined him, laying his head on his shoulder and staring at coverage of the events as they sat in chairs in the lobby of the building. 

When the heroes arrived one by one both men stood up and finally as a group they all went to the gym of all places. Then there was hugging and greetings as the group was very happy to see Kotetsu back.

They didn’t give a shit about Barnaby, that much was obvious, and Barnaby knew why. He’d made little to no effort to bond with them before vanishing. Even if he still didn’t care about that, he felt so disconnected watching other people in Kotetsu’s life welcome him back. 

But someone else hitting on him was too much. He didn’t know how close Fire Emblem and Kotetsu were – probably just friends, but he gravitated over to the group and stood awkwardly. 

“Ah, we should thank Barnaby for helping!” Sky High said and grabbed his arm, pulling him closer to the whole group.

“Yea, you found him, didn’t ya?” Rock Bison asked, flashing him a grin. He had taken his helmet off and set it on the ground. 

“I did…” Barnaby said slowly. 

Blue Rose gave him a less than hateful stare. “Thanks rookie. We really are glad.”

“Yea, guess Barnaby finally made a friend here too! Course, it couldn’t be one of us normal heroes, he had to go find himself a big dumb cat…” Rock Bison roared with laughter. 

“Are they friends, though?” Fire Emblem asked. He smirked. He knew what was going on, Barnaby was sure of it. Rock Bison had to know too. 

“Ko…tetsu?” Barnaby said slowly, looking at him. He didn’t really know what he expected. Kotetsu wasn’t a liar, he wouldn’t hide Barnaby like a shameful secret or hurt him, but…a part of him feared change in the different circumstances. Kotetsu had kissed him and hugged him, held his hand, but he could turn around and say anything he wanted and Barnaby wasn’t sure he even had it in him to be mad. 

His life changed a lot in the last few hours.

“Ah, Bunny…”Kotetsu held out a hand as the others exchanged glances, no doubt due to the nickname. “Bunny, come here.” His tone was gentle. He’d been excited talking to his friends, but with Barnaby, there was a definite change. Calm, caring, welcoming. 

Barnaby tried to hide a small smile as he took Kotetsu’s hand and let himself be pulled closer. 

Kotetsu positioned Barnaby right in front of him and the others stepped back, watching. “Bunny is my savior. He is certainly my ‘friend’, and that’s putting it simply. Something strange and wonderful happened when he stepped into my tower…” Kotetsu pulled him even closer, holding him around his waist.

Barnaby blushed, but was unable to look away from him. “Are you sure you want them to know…”  
“Of course!” Kotetsu laughed. “I want everyone to know,” he said, finally closing whatever small distance there was and holding Barnaby pressed against him. He turned his head and kissed Barnaby’s neck gently, which felt a little too nice to be in front of people. 

“Kotetsu…”

He nuzzled Barnaby’s face, his tail brushing and curling around one of Barnaby’s legs. “Friends, yes, though I think a different term can be applied here…”

Rock Bison spoke up. “We asked if you’re friends. You could have just said that you’re gay for each other instead, you know, instead of dragging it out!”

Kotetsu laughed. “Ha! This whole display is for me, not you,” he said, and then gave Barnaby’s ass a squeeze.

Barnaby jumped back, or almost did, Kotetsu’s grip tight on him. “Kotetsu!” he yelped, his face incredibly red. He still couldn’t be mad. He wanted that again, and again, and he actually had to lean forward to hide his face in Kotetsu’s chest. He had managed for maybe an hour to not think about how badly he wanted to get intimate with Kotetsu. How badly he wanted to kiss those stripes on his torso, how much he wanted Kotetsu to pin him down and show him his sharp teeth. He wanted him to…

Oh, God, everyone was laughing. Someone smacked him on the back good naturedly, and while he was sure it was one of the guys he didn’t know who. 

“Better take your cute bunny home and have him get familiar with your bed!” Fire Emblem suggested.

“Or your FLOOR!” Rock Bison practically yelled. 

“The floor? No, no, they need time to properly explore each other, that’s something not fit for a floor!” Fire Emblem sounded almost offended, but a slight laugh at the end of his exclamation made it clear he was amused. 

“I dunno, I think they’ve had a lot of time to do that! What else do you do in a tower closed off from everyone? Hah!” Rock Bison just kept going, without realized what he said. 

“Um, excuse me,” a quiet voice – Dragon Kid – interrupted. That’s right, there were kids there! How awkward!

“Yes sweetie?” Fire Emblem asked. 

“When we found them…Kotetsu was a big tiger monster,” she pointed out. “I’m trying really hard not to listen to this but if he wasn’t human until today I don’t think they would have…in the tower…I mean, I don’t….”

There was a complete silence and Barnaby closed his eyes. Oh, God, the assumptions they had to be making…they weren’t true! He never touched Kotetsu like that when he was a tiger, never…he cuddled with him, that was all. 

“So, uh, Barnaby,” Rock Bison coughed after a few minutes. “Didn’t realize big cats were a turn-on for you.

“Yes, had we known that…” Fire Emblem let out a dreamy sigh and there were laughs. 

Everyone was all set to pick on him. 

Barnaby was all set to actually get mad at them, but then Kotetsu kissed his head and rubbed his back slowly. 

If he kept doing that the others could say whatever they wanted.

 

“Yes sweetheart, I’m sure I’m fine.”

“You should have told us!” Kaede demanded angrily over the video call. Her eyes were narrowed, different from wide and excited when the call had started. “We were so worried, I haven’t been able to concentrate at all, but my teacher said she understands…”

Kotetsu frowned. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t have called you before. Um, well I guess maybe I could have but you would have been in danger.”

Kaede sighed. “I don’t care, Dad, I wanted to know where you were.”

“Well I care, and I wasn’t going to do that.”

“I guess…will you come home soon?” she asked, voice losing some of its anger and sounding more like a child desperate to see her father. “Please?”

“Soon as I can, I promise.”

“Tomorrow?”

Kotetsu laughed a sad laugh. “No, not tomorrow, and maybe not soon. I’m sorry Kaede, but right now, I can’t even leave the city. Travel in and out is banned, and there’s a lot of trouble coming, I’m sure of it.”

“Because that Maverick guy is in jail?”

“That’s the easiest way to put it. We’ve got a mess to clean up here…”

“That’s right. You’re a Hero, aren’t you?” she asked, and glared again.

Kotetsu winced. “I should have told you, I know…”

Kaede sighed. “I’ll get mad another time, I’m just happy you’re okay, Dad.”

“Aww, sweetie…”

“Anyway I have to go to bed! I have school tomorrow, after all…”

Kotetsu nodded. “Got it. I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said, and began his goodbyes both her and his brother. His mother had spoken for a while but eventually got tired and went to bed.

He sat on the edge of Barnaby’s bed as he used his phone. Going to Kotetsu’s hadn’t really been an option. His place was ransacked and trashed by Ouroboros a while ago. It was further messed up by searches for him. He had some treasures and memories to collect later, but for the time being he was at Barnaby’s.

And Barnaby was just fine with that.

Kotetsu hung up the phone and Barnaby tugged his tail from where he was laying on his back on the bed. 

Kotetsu looked at him with a small smile. “You want attention?”

“I want you,” Barnaby replied and tugged again.

“Ah.” Kotetsu flushed and set the phone down before moving backwards on the bed to lay on his back next to Barnaby. “What a day…”

“Indeed.” Barnaby rolled on his side and cuddled right up to Kotetsu, resting his hand on his chest. 

“Everything is so messed up out there, still,” Kotetsu said with a sigh. Not long after they’d arrived at the apartment there had been an explosion in town, but the other heroes went to take care of it. Kotetsu had wanted to but he had to agree he and Barnaby were just too out of it physically and mentally to really do the job well. The rain had even picked up again, bringing cold with it. 

Barnaby stared at Kotetsu’s arm. “I know. But it’s nice in here…”

“We can’t ignore it.”

“Can’t let it consume us either.” Barnaby propped himself up on one hand so he could study Kotetsu’s handsome yet stressed face. “I’m focused on something else…entirely…” His eyes strayed from Kotetsu’s face and ran down his body. God, he wanted him. 

Kotetsu’s gaze flicked up to catch Barnaby’s, and he snorted. “I know what’s on your mind, Bunny. I’m pretty sure it’s been on your mind since we were at that apartment.”

Barnaby nodded, a little embarrassed. “Uh-huh. I’m not usually like this.” 

“I know. You must have a lot of sexual frustration to get out, huh?” Kotetsu teased.

And he was completely right, since Barnaby had never slept with anyone. “Yes,” he said quietly and forced himself to keep watching Kotetsu’s face. 

Kotetsu laughed a little and rolled on his side to face Barnaby. “You’re cute,” he said and stroked Barnaby’s hair. “Really damn cute.”

Barnaby pouted. He wanted to be hot, not cute, at least not at that second. 

“Hey now! You’re attractive as hell too!” Kotetsu kissed his nose. “But right now, I think you’re cute. But Bunny…let’s not rush it.”

“Rush it?” 

“Geez, we haven’t even known each other a month, you know? I’d rather ah, know you want to stay with me before I go taking your virginity,” he said, blushing as he said the word. “Everything is sort of going nuts out there, and things will be tough. To nurse a new relationship through all this…”

“I won’t give you up. When I have my mind set on something I really focus on that…”

“Haha.” Kotetsu smiled. “I’ve noticed.” 

“Keep it in mind then.”

“I will. I admit, I’m still in a state of disbelief that I’m here with you. I keep thinking I’ll wake up and find myself back in that tower all by myself.”

“You’re not alone anymore,” Barnaby said, absent-mindedly running his hand over Kotetsu’s hip. Once he noticed his hand placement he drew it back, very aware of how easily his fingers could wander. “And neither am I...”

Kotetsu’s gaze softended and he took Barnaby’s hand, kissing it. He didn’t say anything and they just enjoyed each other’s company. Barnaby thought about his time in the tower and how strange and cold it had been at first. So cut off from everyone else, though he hadn’t minded that aspect. 

He was still pissed his pink bunny was there, but they could collect it later. He thought back on other things, and a question eventually came to mind. “Hey, Kotetsu?”

“Hmmm?” Kotetsu’s eyes had been closing. He was exhausted; Barnaby was too.

“There were two locked rooms up by the bathrooms and I was curious- what was in them? Were they locked when you got there?”

“Oh, those…heh…” Kotetsu laughed nervously. 

“…So something was hidden behind them?”

“Yes, but…”

“I’d like to know,” Barnaby persisted, wondering if they would have to deal with it.

“I dunno, Bunny…”

“Tell me.”

Kotetsu sighed. He had a guilty look on his face. “You see…the regular human sized bathrooms didn’t really…they didn’t exactly work for me, and I needed kind of a large, er, litterbox…”

A look of disgust crossed Barnaby’s face. He wished he hadn’t asked. Oh how he WISHED he hadn’t asked. “Ew. Ew! Oh Kotetsu that’s disgusting!”

“Yea. I went through a lot of candles hiding that.”

“Ew ew!” Barnaby felt gross just thinking about it. “Dammit, I wish I hadn’t asked that!”

Kotetsu sat up. “Feel dirty?”

Barnaby watched him, and then sat up too. “Yes! I feel…ugh!” He felt suddenly sticky and nasty and it occurred to him he had been so stressed and tired he didn’t bathe that day…

Kotetsu swung his legs off the bed with a tired groan, and stood up. “Well, clearly there’s one thing to do.”

Barnaby froze, had he chased him off. “Kotetsu?” he asked, worried.

Kotetsu held out his hand with a smirk on his face. “We need a shower, pronto.” 

Barnaby blinked and stared up at him. Then he launched himself off the bed. “YES!” He took the offered hand, but ended up leading and dragging Kotetsu with him. “Yes we do, let’s go shower!” He nearly tripped over his feet.

“Careful, careful!” Kotetsu laughed, trying not to fall down too. 

Barnaby barely listened. His mind was on scrubbing that delicious striped body and behaving himself in the shower. He had self-restraint! He could hold himself back!

…He’d give it a shot, anyway.


End file.
